Wayward
by Wisegirl6
Summary: "I could easily bend the slaves to my will by breaking them, But Cavell though that would be unnecessary. He thinks that slaves are much better when they have a mind to fight, when they aren't empty. What use to us is a slave who can't feel?" Can Merlin escape the evil lord Cavell and his wife Isobel after he is kidnapped by slave traders?
1. Last Glance

**Hey Friends! I am back with a new fic! My other story 'Return Of The King' is on a little unannounced hiatus because of this little precious piece of work here *Caresses story lovingly*. So, I've already finished 10 chapters of Wayward already but the update times will be really out of wack. I might post an update after a really bad day, or if I get a really nice review (wink wink), or if I'm bored, or if I think I have tormented all of you nice people long enough. But I promise that every time I finish writing another chapter I shall, of course, bestow another upon you guys. WOOOOAAHHH this is the longest AN I've ever written! Sorry about that, I'll just let you start reading. Enjoy!  
Wisegirl6**

Wayward by Wisegirl6

Chapter 1 ~Last Glance

Merlin mentally cursed himself as he slipped on the stairs. With a sickening crunch he hit the cold stone floor. The warlock sat there for a moment, nursing his newly-injured elbow.

"Merlin, if you're done being an idiot me and the knights would like to start the patrol now," called Arthur from somewhere in the corridor ahead of him, all the usual joking lilt missing from his voice.

The two had had a row that morning. Arthur had found out that Merlin had been skipping out on meals for the last few days and spent most of the nights up much too late in the armory polishing Arthur's armor.

Merlin had never heard Arthur scream so loud. "How are you supposed to be my manservant if you can't even take care of yourself? Honestly, Merlin!" he had yelled, deciding to use his hidden concern for his servant to fuel his anger. The warlock really had looked horrible though, he was much too thin and the evidence of sleep deprivation was all too clear on his face.

Merlin had given him some sort of witty remark, which probably hadn't helped with Arthur's temper.

"Do you think this is some kind of joke?" Arthur had asked, his voice deadly low. "I don't want you dropping dead on me because you're too _stupid _to realize that you might need food or sleep once and a while!"

Arthur still hadn't forgiven him yet.

Merlin grumbled -still holding his arm- and trudged after his master.

Outside, the knights were already set to go. Arthur had decided on a small group of trusted knights to accompany them which consisted of Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan. Leon stayed behind and was to stand in Arthur place if any emergencies were to arise

Arthur mounted his horse silently and Merlin followed suit.

The group galloped through the gates of the city and out into the forest. Merlin turned and gazed at Camelot as it disappeared behind a hill. Little did he know that that would be the last he would see of his home for a long, long time.

The patrol was pretty standard for the first two hours. The knights joked around, with Merlin joining in every once and a while.

But despite the cheery air to the conversation there was an unspoken tension surrounding the group, courtesy of the King and his servant.

More than once Merlin tried to get his friend to talk to him. He didn't care if Arthur yelled at him or just insulted him, anything was better than this reserved, stony silence. But despite the warlock's efforts the only reaction he could invoke from his master was either a quick, one worded response or a cold glare.

It made Merlin very angry that Arthur couldn't just drop it. He was fine, so what if he'd missed a couple chances at food and a few hours of sleep.

Arthur was still very much mad at his servant, he was thin enough as he was without skipping much-needed meals. He really didn't know who he was more angry at, himself or Merlin? He was as much to blame as his stupid servant. He always demanded to much of him: 'Merlin, be on time tomorrow,' 'Merlin, go polish my armor,' 'Merlin, go muck out the stables,' he shouldn't be surprised that he didn't even have time for simple things like eating or sleeping. Arthur should have been paying better attention to Merlin, he was _his _servant after all. He made a mental note to apologize to Merlin once they had reached Camelot. Sadly, the apology would never come.

"So what did you do?" asked Elyan, interrupting Arthur's thoughts and Gwaine's retelling of one of his more spectacular bar fights.

Gwaine continued with a smile, using his hands for extravagant gestures," After I single-handedly fought off the men and left the bar, their bandit friends decided to stop by and have a little chat. I think it goes without saying that the 'talk' didn't go so well for me."

Percival, Merlin, and Elyan roared with laughter at Gwaine's misfortune.

Their glee came to an early end, however, when several armed figures melted from the shadows of the forest and surrounded the group. For a moment it was completely silent, nobody daring to move.

Arthur was the first to react, slipping off of his horse and drawing his sword in mere seconds.

Like him, the knights prepared for a fight, equally as fast.

Merlin dismounted and stayed back a few feet behind Arthur, he didn't have any weapons and could only help with his magic if he was out of everyone's line of sight.

The mercenaries charged the knights. The knights met them with equal force.

Merlin was starting to wonder when someone would take notice of him when one of the men started towards him. He pulled a sword from a fallen mercenary's belt just in time to block a strike.

The mercenary looked at Merlin strangely before swinging his sword away and disarming him. Merlin couldn't swing a sword if his life depended on it, and in this case it did.

All Merlin could do was watch as the man's sword hilt came down on his head and the world went black.

Arthur didn't notice the mercenary charge Merlin, strike him down, or pull his limp form away into the brush. Nobody did. They finally realized what had happened when the last of the men ran off into the forest and their group was one member short.

Gwaine was the first to notice,"Arthur, where's Merlin?"

He turned in a full circle, eyes scanning the surrounding forest for any signs of his idiot manservant."Merlin!" Arthur called, hoping with all of his might that the stupid servant had simply gone to hide in the woods. But Arthur knew Merlin, and running away from a fight while his friends could be in danger just wasn't something he would do.

So, of course, no Merlin answered their calls.

The knights and King huddled together to plan their next course of action. They could either return to the city for help or go after Merlin themselves. It was a unanimous decision on the latter.  
"Who were they?" asked Percival gruffly. "I don't know of any bandits who would steal an entire person."

Gwaine ran a hand through his hair worriedly. "That's because they weren't bandits, I recognize them from a tavern in Mercia. Him and his friends had stopped there after a 'haul' to celebrate. He cheated me out of a horse that I had recently won," he said, nudging a body a few feet away with his foot.

The group held their breaths.

"They were slave traders."

Arthur felt his blood turn to ice.

**Yay! First chappy done and posted! I'm so excited to see what kind of response this gets! Each chapter will always be over 1000 words not including the author's notes, It will be the longest story that I have ever posted! Remember, I like reviews almost as much as I like Colin Morgan, so please review.  
Hope you liked the first chapter!  
PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Wisegirl6**


	2. Askandar And The Traders

**Hey Friends! I'm back! Yeah, so I usually don't update this fat all of the time but the 10th chapter was already more than half done and someone reviewed saying that it was their birthday today... and I just couldn't refuse.  
SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HAYKEY17! I hope you like the chapter but if not here's a cookie just in case (::) :D ;) Enjoy, even if it isn't your birthday today too!  
Wisegirl6**

Wayward By Wisegirl6

Chapter 2 ~Askandar and the Traders

By the time Merlin woke up the remaining slave traders had already made it back to their camp, chained his hands behind his back, and threw him in a cage on the back of a small cart.

The moon was high in the sky, meaning that several hours had passed since he had been captured. Merlin squinted in the dark, trying to make out where they were. It was no use, the only thing he could see was forest surrounding them in every direction, no landmarks whatsoever. He could be anywhere; Mercia, Lot's kingdom, Cenred's land, they might even be somewhere in Camelot; he had no way of telling.

One of the traders finally noticed that Merlin was conscious. "The kid's awake," he said to the man driving the cart.

The trader halted the procession and climbed down from the caravan so that he was eye level with Merlin. "Good morning," he said with false sweetness.

Now that he was closer Merlin could make out what he looked like. The man was big and burly with wide shoulders and a square face that housed one of the longest beards Merlin had ever seen. His black hair was greasy and matted. He looked pretty worse for wear, but not as bad as his comrades. The malicious, sadistic gleam in his dark eyes made Merlin sick. He immediately hated this man and everything about him.

"What's so good about it?" Merlin hissed at him through clenched teeth.

The man let out a booming laugh before turning to the rest of the mercenaries who were all watching the exchange with the same satisfied smile. "Did you hear that?" he called to the crowd. "This one's a fighter, I can feel it. Cavell'll raise a good sum of money for him!"

The words made Merlin's heart drop into his stomach, they were _slave traders. _The term was all too familiar to him. As the King's manservant he'd heard numerous cases of slavers that had invaded homes and villages and taken innocent people as captives before selling them to the highest paying Lord or King. The slaves were then mistreated, underfed, and forced to work against their will. Sometimes they were even tortured by their captors. Merlin had seen too many people who had fallen prey to slave traders and sustained extensive injuries on top of being less than malnourished.

The man's voice was so sugar-coated that it made Merlin sick, "I'm Askandar, and as leader of this troupe I would just like to formally welcome you to your worst nightmare and the rest of your miserable life." He laughed again, twice as loud and throaty as before.

The rest of the traders chuckled along with him. Apparently this greeting was tradition because the slave traders treated it like no more than a joke.

Suddenly, Merlin launched himself forwards into the bars of the cage. He planned on escaping using a quick bit of magic before taking off for the nearest town. Sadly, Askandar was all too familiar with his prisoners trying to escape using the element of surprise.

Immediately, his jovial look melted into a crueler one that better suited his dark features. All laughter ceased as Askandar grabbed Merlin through the bars by the shoulders, pushed him back before pulling him forwards into the side of the cage.

Merlin's head snapped backwards with a crack and he sank to the floor, already unconscious before he hit the rough straw.

After realizing that they would have to organize an actual search for the traders, the knights and King decided to travel back to Camelot. Sure, the four of them could take on a small group of slave traders but they probably wouldn't get very far against an entire troupe of them.

Besides, since they had been in Camelot searching for innocents to sell Arthur could send out a larger group of men to search for them without any of the council members disapproving. The real reason he wanted to find them so much was obviously because of Merlin.

Arthur found him blinking back tears as he and the knights rode to Camelot. He remembered yelling at Merlin this morning because of something stupid that he'd done. Arthur had then continued to ignore his manservant during the patrol because he was still angry with him. A ball of remorse had settled in Arthur's stomach and it just seemed to be growing. What if he never saw Merlin again? The idiot would think that Arthur was still angry at him, he could even take that to his grave.

_No. Arthur just couldn't afford to think like that, he needed to keep a clear head if he was going to rescue his best friend._

Best friend. It was almost funny how easily the thought came to Arthur when it didn't even matter anymore. When he wasn't even here.

Normally silent Percival jogged Arthur out of his thoughts. "What's the plan once we get back to Camelot?"

Arthur took a deep breath from atop his white mare. He knew that he was going to have to come up with a plan eventually. "When we get there I need Elyan to first go and inform Guinevere, she'll want to know about Merlin and I think as her brother you'd be the best for the job."

Elyan nodded at his King.

"After that I will call an emergency council meeting and we will form a squad of knights to track them."

Gwaine still wasn't satisfied. "And after that?" he questioned from behind him. Arthur could hear the subtle tone of urgency and concern underlining his normally care-free voice, he was obviously very worried about Merlin.

A grim, sad smile came over Arthur's face. "Once the council meeting is dismissed I need to personally inform Gaius about what happened to Merlin."

Arthur's heart sunk at the thought of the confrontation. Merlin was like a son to the physician and would be heartbroken if anything happened to him.

"And then we ride," Arthur finished somberly. The words 'slave traders' kept replaying themselves over and over again in his head. The thought that Merlin, his friend the clumsy, idiotic, always-smiling Merlin, could be sold off to someone as a slave was enough to send him into despair. Of all of his friends, except maybe Guinevere, Merlin was the last one he'd want to get captured by slave traders, he was just so _innocent, so Merlin. _Arthur just couldn't imagine his idiot servant as a slave, abused, even more food deprived and worked half to death.

He tried to project his thoughts to his friend, wherever he was. _Hold on Merlin._

**Wow, I am editing this once more before I post it and it's really givng me feels, like really. I can't even... hugh! Sorry, fangirl moment. **  
**So, I need everyone's help. I want to know what you guys think of my story: Am I overplaying the bromance? Should Arthur be more worried? How's my writing? Any mistakes? Should Merlin be a bit more BAMF? Teall me what you think in the reviews.**  
**Anyways, one last shoutout to haykey17, happy birthday (Sorry, I don't know your age)**  
**Next chapter coming soon,**  
**Wisegirl6**


	3. Cavell's Fortress

**Hey Friends! I finished writing chapter 11, which means that I'm updating the story! Yay!  
I would just like to take the chance to say oh my gosh! You guys are AMAZING! Never have I gotten so many reviews for just the 2nd and 1st chapters of my story! Keep it coming people!  
So I forgot to say, this story takes place in the absolutely enormous time gap between seasons 4 and 5. Just in case you were wondering ;D**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't know about you people but I don't own Merlin**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 3 ~Cavell's Fortress

The were dragging Merlin across the ground by his bound hands when he regained conciousness again. He felt sore and stiff all over. His head and shoulders ached from their constant blows and being slammed into the bars of his cage. Merlin's wrists were rubbed raw and bloody by the shackles that encircled them.

The trader, the same one that had initially knocked him out and kidnapped him, held the end of his chain and pulled him across the rough stone-strewn ground. Every pebble that came into contact with Merlin's body felt like a knife carving into his skin.

Finally, after five minutes of just letting the trader pull him along, Merlin stood up and let the trader lead him to a fortress that loomed above them. It was tall and black, with a large wall that circled the outside, almost like a castle. Merlin guessed this was where they were taking him.

The slave traders paid no attention to Merlin as he walked alongside them. Now would be a perfect time to enact any escape plans that he might have. But Merlin just wasn't up to performing magic; he was in pain, tired, lost, and utterly hopeless. In his current state any magic that he did would probably end up doing more damage to him then the slave traders. And where would he go after that? He had no clue where he was and knew that he wouldn't be able to outrun the traders in his current condition.

With a rough tug from the trader leading him Merlin pitched forward onto the ground. His already ripped clothes caught on stones and dirt, just ruining what Merlin was wearing even further.

The traders around him laughed. Their taunting laughs almost reminded him of Arthur. But these people weren't going to help him, they weren't going to remember him after they sold him, they didn't care about him. They just wanted a bit of free humor to go with their money.

Merlin suddenly felt like crying. His entire life had gone down the drain with that one stupid patrol. He would probably never get out of here and spend the rest of his life as a slave. Merlin was never going back to Camelot. He would never see Arthur again, or Gwen, or Gaius, or Gwaine, or his mother, or any of his friends.

"Get him up!" said Askandar as he doubled back to check on his 'ware'. "Cavell wants us there before nighttime."

Two slavers came up behind Merlin and hoisted him to his feet.

Merlin grudgingly started shuffling along.

After a few more hours of walking they finally reached the outer wall of the fortress. The sun was low in the sky and the incoming darkness just added to the gloom of the place.

A couple of black-clothed guards stood at the front gates. Wordlessly, one of them signalled to the drawbridge keeper, a frail old man, to raise the portcullis. Slowly, it receded, making groaning and squeaking sounds the entire time.

Askandar waited for the trader leading Merlin along to catch up with him before holding his hand out. "Give 'em to me. I'll be going with just Markus and Cobalt."

Merlin watched as his chains exchanged hands. He glared up at his captor. Hopeless or not, he was still going to fight until his last breath.

Askandar responded with a sneer and began pulling him along.

They walked into the fortress' courtyard. Like the outside, everything was made from large black stones. Servants, _slaves_ he corrected himself mentally, were bustling about with their heads down. They were much too thin and wore faded and torn rags.

Merlin wondered exactly how many slaves this Cavell had. The guards at the gate had recognized Askandar pretty quickly, were all these people victims of them and their greed? How often did he sell the owner of this fortress slaves?

The slaves all looked at Merlin with pity.

He just looked back at them sadly as Askandar pulled him up the stairs and into the actual building itself, which was just as foreboding-looking as everything else.

Cavell met them just inside the doors. He was a tall and thin man, with short brown hair and steely gray eyes. He wore standard noble attire, deep red in colour. In retrospect he looked pretty young, only a few years older than Arthur, over 30 at least.

The woman next to Cavell was shorter by a foot at least and had long, styled black hair and intense blue eyes. She wore a silky, sky coloured dress to compliment her eyes.

Askandar pushed Merlin to his knees in front of the two nobles. "Lord Cavell, My Lady."

"Ah, Askandar, It's good to see you," Cavell said with a cold smile. His voice was cruel and seemed to drawl on longer than any other person Merlin had ever met. "The last three you dropped off didn't make it through the first week." His smile changed to something closer to anger.

Askandar visibly shrank back. "I'm sorry, M'Lord. But, I can promise you that this one will be worth every penny spent." He kicked Merlin hard in the side, earning a small grunt of pain.

Cavell gestured to the lady beside him, "Isobel, would you like to look him over for me?"

She stepped forwards with her hands clasped tightly behind her back. Isobel bent down beside Merlin so that they were face to face.

Now that she was closer Merlin could see how much she resembled Cavell. Isobel didn't physically look like him but she had the same hard look to her eyes and cold edge to her voice. Appearances can be deceiving after all.

Isobel reached her hand out and gripped the bottom of Merlin's chin, tilting his head from side to side. "Stand up," she ordered.

Merlin did as he was told, shakily getting to his feet.

Isobel looked him over like she was gauging a pig for slaughter. She walked a full circle around him before looking back at Cavell. "This one should be fine."

Cavell nodded his approval at her choice.

The last thing Merlin saw before blacking out again was Isobel's eyes flashing gold and Askandar's smiling face as he was handed a satchel of coins.

* * *

Merlin had deja vu. It seemed like he was being knocked unconscious all too frequently.  
This time, however, he was indoors, in a small black stone room, chained to a chair in the center.

Directly in front of him stood Isobel, in all of her terrifying cold beauty.

"You have magic?" he managed to choke out after a while.

Isobel's expression was unchanging. "I do."

Merlin supposed that made sense. They illegally kept slaves, why couldn't they have an illegal sorceress as well?

Her voice changed immediately, hardening like stone," My husband and I have an unusual method for dealing with slaves here." Isobel began pacing the room, walking slow, calculating circles around her prisoner.

It took a second for the information to sink in, Isobel was Cavell's wife! Merlin found that hard to believe because of the age difference between them, Cavell was almost old enough to be her father!

Isobel, unaware of the turmoil of thoughts in Merlin's head, continued speaking, "I could easily bend the slaves to my will by _breaking them, _But Cavell though that would be unnecessary. He thinks that slaves are much better when they have a mind to fight, when they aren't empty. What use to us is a slave who can't feel?"

Merlin had no clue where the sorceress was taking this conversation but he found himself almost leaning forward in his seat to hear more.

"So I came up with an alternative."

* * *

Merlin's breathing was ragged as two guards dragged him to a small cell in the underground of the castle. Apparently being a slave meant sleeping in the dungeon too here.

His thoughts were forced back to the scene that had unfolded in that little black stone room. He didn't want to know what she had done to him, but Merlin knew that it wasn't good.

The guards locked the door behind him as they shoved him through a narrow hole in the wall that was meant to be a door.

Merlin could hear them as they tramped back down the hallway.

Immediately he was on his feet again. He needed to know what that witch had done, what that spell had meant. "Hello?' he called softly to the cell across from him.

A man's face appeared in the small window at the top of his door. He looked up at Merlin skeptically. "Are you new?"

Merlin nodded, "Do you know what Isobel did to me?"

"Did you swear anything?"

Merlin wasn't sure what the question meant. He opened and closed his mouth several times before the man cut him off.

"I said, did you swear anything? Did she ask you to do something and you said yes?" the man asked again, more forcefully this time.

"What does it mean if I did?"

The man looked somber,"You sold that witch your soul."

**Yeah, I personally really like the ending to that chapter. It's awesome. Anyways thanks for reading!**  
**Don't forget to review! More reviews means faster updates!**

**Wisegirl6**

**P.S. Sorry for the mix up with the story dialogue. There was supposed to be a line-break in between two sentences to show a time skip. Sorry if that confused you!**


	4. Bring Him Home

**Hello Friends! Another update, yay! Just wanted to give one last one before I go to my cottage (where there is no internet) for the next week. I will try to update using my IPad, by the chances of that happening are slim, very slim. So I thought I'd grace you guys with one more before I left.  
Wisegirl6**

Chapter 4 ~Bring Him Home

Arthur's walk slowed as he neared Gaius' chambers. He really didn't have any idea what he could say to the physician. He would undoubtedly be sad, distraught and worried, maybe he would even be mad at the King for not looking out for Merlin.

Arthur definitely blamed himself. He was a bloody idiot! Sending Merlin on all of those patrols, bringing him on dangerous quests, letting him fight in god-forsaken wars alongside him without so much as a scrap of armor or a weapon. It was a miracle he'd lasted this long.

Arthur took a deep breath. He had reached the physician's door. He had never wanted so much to run away from something. Battles, Sorcerers, Witches, monsters? He could face all of those things and more. But, having to tell the old physician that his ward had been captured by slave traders and was probably never going to be found? It made him shake in his boots.

But Arthur knew he could put this off for no longer. He raised his hand and pounded on the rough wood.

"Enter," came the quiet reply.

Arthur entered hesitantly to see the old man bent over his work table, pouring over a few large, dusty volumes. "Gaius," the King said solemnly.

The physician looked up curiously at Arthur. What would he be doing here? He didn't look injured and, unlike usual, Merlin certainly wasn't with him... "What's happened?" he asked, cutting straight to the point. Gaius did like to be frank when something was bothering him. "What's happened to Merlin?" Gaius could feel his heart dropping into his stomach at the expression on Arthur's face

"He's not dead," the King said quickly, sensing how worried Gaius had become in the short time. "He was still alive when I last saw him."

Arthur was overcome with deja vu, he remembered having the exact same conversation with Gaius a few years ago when Merlin was taken by mercenaries. But, Arthur knew that this was much more major than that. Death by mace was a much kinder fate than a life enslaved.

Gaius let out a breath, at least his boy was still alive. If Merlin was alive then he could fight and use magic to escape.

Arthur continued,"While we were on patrol men attacked us." He paused to regain his slipping composure. "They were slave traders."

The old man felt his world starting to crumble around him at Arthur's words. Merlin was like a son to him and he had no clue how he could possibly live without his constant trouble, complaints, and enthusiastic grins. "Are you going to look for him?" Gaius asked weakly, remembering a time years ago when Arthur had been frantic trying to find his manservant.

Arthur nodded solemnly. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring him back, Gaius," he said, resting a hand on the old man's shoulder. "I'll find him and bring those slavers to justice."

There was a strange determination that Gaius had never seen before on the young King's face.

* * *

The patrol was unsuccessful at tracking the slave traders for two weeks. Arthur spent those two weeks in a state of grim concentration; the king would only pause to sleep or eat when his knights insisted it. He didn't want to stop searching, Arthur _had _to find Merlin.

Like it or not, Merlin was Arthur's first real friend. He'd hadn't been lonely as a child, his father had made sure that there was always someone to keep the young prince company, but every child that Arthur encountered as a kid had always been hired to make sure that he was happy. Half of them had been almost like spies for his father to make sure that the Prince wasn't sneaking around and causing trouble. Many of them hadn't even like Arthur, they just liked the future King of Camelot. Merlin was the first ever person to actually make him feel like a human being, not like a spoiled Prince that he was.

He recalled when they'd first met: Arthur had been bullying his previous servant and Merlin had tried to put a stop to it. Then Arthur had retaliated by telling him that he was the crown prince of Camelot. Surprisingly, that hadn't changed Merlin's actions to him. The stupid boy had continued to go against him, using every available opportunity to make him feel inferior. It had been... almost refreshing for someone to talk to him like that, like they weren't pretending not to be walking on eggshells in order to get closer to the prince. Merlin had chosen his own means of becoming friends with Arthur.

Now Arthur felt like there was a part of him missing; Merlin had always been there, tagging along the entire time. It felt weird not to have his overly-loyal manservant beside him. He was bent on finding his friend, he was going to do whatever it took, even if it cost him his own life in the process.

Arthur remembered what Gaius had said to him just before he'd departed the physician's chambers. "Please, Arthur," he begged, putting as much emotion as he could into his words. "Please bring Merlin home." The old man had sounded so sad, so miserable that it broke the King's heart.

He's just nodded slowly, not trusting his mouth to work properly.

Now the words were bouncing around in his head, echoing thousands of times in his mind, "_Bring Merlin home." _Those words, that small sentence, had been engraved into Arthur's mind; they became the one thing he strived for, and he wouldn't stop trying until he'd reached that goal. No matter what price he'd have to pay.

Gwaine, of course, wasn't much better. Merlin had been his first real friend too. Before he was knighted, Gwaine barely stayed in the same place for more than three days (Providing that he hadn't been kicked out of the town's tavern yet). Merlin had been the first person to actually want him around, drunk troublemaker and all.

The knights that had decided to take part in this quest to save their friend (Gwaine, Elyan, Leon, Percival) were growing steadily more worried for their ruler's sanity. He seemed like a totally different person without Merlin there, he treated everyone with cold indifference, barely spoke, ate or slept, and kept to himself most of the time. The knights knew that they needed to find Merlin fast, before Arthur retreated any further into the depths of his mind and couldn't come out.

**Okay, I hope you guys liked this chapter, 'cause it will be the newest one for a while. (That didn't really make sense. Whatever :(D)  
THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! Jeez you guys make me so happy, I absolutely LOVE getting feedback! :D  
**

**I also want everyone to go check out my new polls on my profile, because that will decide what story I'll do next! There's a Sherlock one, a few Merlins, and a Merlin and Doctor Who crossover. So yeah. please vote (you can choose two of them)**

**Wisegirl6**


	5. Life With The Slaves

**Hey Friends! The next chapter of the story isnt quite done yet but i really cant type with an Ipad so Im just going to update this really cold here, i havent even been swimming yet! I hope the weather is better where everyone else is!Anyways, this was probably my favourite chapter to write, because of the sheer lack of dialogue, i really love monolgue! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 5 ~Life With The Slaves

Two Years Later

Merlin was cold. He huddled in the corner of the cell that had been his room for the past 26 months, worn blanket drawn up to his chin. It was freezing in the dungeon-like slaves quarters, and to think it hadn't even reached the colder months yet.

The slavers never lit fires for their workers, nor did they give them much food.

Merlin flashed back to a point some months ago, something that one of the laundry girls Helena had said that had stuck in his mind, "_They want us cold, but not dying. Hungry, but not starving. Lonely, but not insane. Free-willed, but trapped."_

In Merlin's opinion a truer thing had yet to be said.

The slavers provided them each with a thin, coarse blanket during the colder months, but refused to light fires anywhere near the cells in case they tried to escape or something. Everyday someone would come with food, but it would be just scraps, barely enough to live on. Cavell permitted them contact with the workers in their station (providing they still got work done), but gave them as little opportunities to talk to others as possible. But it was the last one that really pulled at Merlin's heartstrings: 'Free-willed, but trapped."

Isobel's 'Blood Oath', if Merlin had learned correctly, made sure that none of the slaves could escape without destroying their mental sanity.

A Blood Oath could be started by simply collecting some of a person's blood, putting a complicated enchantment on it, and then getting them to swear something to the wielder. The enchanter could then make the victim of the Blood Oath do as they wish, if they resisted a terrible pain occurred until they once again followed their master's wishes. Before, when Merlin was still new to slavery, he would try to go against Isobel. The fighting spirit inside of Merlin had not lasted long under the intense, blinding pain that the enchantment brought on. The only thing Merlin could do now, as much as it pained him, was follow the rules.

The young slave shivered and buried himself even further in the blanket's depths. It was no use, it was still cold enough to freeze him solid. Merlin knew he was in danger of hypothermia, but what would they do to help him? Nothing.

The sound of the rusty metal door clanking open knocked Merlin out of his reprieve. "Eat and then to work," the guard's voice was gruff, holding no sympathy for the thin, cold, dirty boy lying in the corner of the dingy cell. He placed a few scraps on the floor and backed out and locked the door once again.

Merlin scrambled forwards, he was beyond starving. Sadly, being hungry was something that you got used to when you worked for Cavell. Hunger was always there, sitting in the back of your mind constantly reminding you of its presence, almost like a conscience, but more irksome than helpful.

Today's meal seemed even smaller than usual, and that was saying something. It consisted of half a piece of mouldy bread, a quarter cup of water, and a small piece of gristle from some sort of tough, chewy meat. Merlin barely had time to breathe as he scarfed back his daily portion of food.

After a few minutes the guard was back, it was time for work.

Merlin worked almost everywhere in the small castle. His main job was with the launders down with the washing room, but occasionally Cavell or Isobel would assign him a special job like serving and waiting on guests.

Today, however, he was with his friends in a small room off to the side of the cells, dirty clothing piled high around them.

Merlin's 'friends' consisted of a small group of individuals ranging from twelve to sixteen years old. The youngest was a brown haired and eyed girl named Sophie, she was very sweet, but barely said anything. Then there was Sage, a feisty turned quiet girl of fourteen with fiery red hair and a short temper. Peter was the same age as Sage but, though he was a slave, still retained his strong willed nature, reminding him a lot of Arthur. The oldest of them (other than Merlin) was Jordan, a tough, stoic sixteen year old with dark blue eyes and blonde hair cut short. Helena used to work with them too until she died from an epidemic that had swept through the slaves and off killed many of them.

Merlin took his usual spot next to Jordan and plunged his hands into the frigid water, cringing as it seemed to make his entire body drop a few degrees. The warlock grabbed the nearest article of clothing, a pair of blue breeches, and began washing them.

Time passed in silence, nobody daring to speak. The only sounds were of dripping water and squelching clothes. After a while Merlin became aware of Sage, who stood directly across from him, constantly stopping to scratch one of the many red spots across her body.

"Sage, are you okay?" he questioned the younger girl, obviously concerned.

The slave girl looked up, red locks falling from behind her ears. "Its just something that I picked up last week," Sage said, deciding to scratch at a dot on her collarbone.

Merlin looked at her curiously, hands still working.

"Did they let you see Stephen?" asked Jordan gruffly from beside me.

Stephen was Cavell's resident 'physician' and dealt with the slaves when they were injured or had contracted a sickness. He was a young man, but he was grumpy enough to fill the boots of someone twice as old. Whenever you appeared to be sick one of the guards would send you to see Stephen and let him look you over. If the disease was contagious Cavell had you locked up in a quarantine cell. He didn't care if you were dying or not, he just wanted to make sure that his remaining wares didn't get contaminated and die on him, wasting precious money.

"Yea," Sage croaked in that strange country lilt of hers. All of the slaves were taken from surrounding countries but Sage was from a place by the sea that was miles and miles away from here. "I'm still allowed to work though."

Merlin frowned. Nobody deserved to work in a condition like this. The poor girl's arms were scratched raw and she was barely able to do anything without pausing to scratch at something. Some of them were even bleeding or had scabbed over.

The group drifted back into an uncomfortable silence for a while. They continued washing until the freezing water was all the way up their arms and the top layer of skin on their hands was rubbed off. The washers could take as long as they wanted, but they couldn't take breaks or anything.

It was well into the night before the guards came back to collect and lock them in their small cells.

The slaves muttered their goodbyes to each other before each of them were swept away by a guard.

"Goodbye Merl'n," whispered Sage as one of the guards flanking her nudged her with the flat of his sword. No matter how many times Merlin tried to drill into Sage that his name was Merlin not Merl'n she refused to call him anything else.

Merlin had started working at some time in the afternoon and was feeling sore and stiff from standing at the wash tub for hours on end. _Even Arthur never worked me this hard. _He thought as he was ushered into his room. Arthur. He remembered the smiling prince and now King of Camelot, the friend who always insulted Merlin and bossed him around but was a friend just the same.

Merlin had built up what he like to call a mental dam in his brain. It kept all of the memories out and helped him to follow his Blood Oath. But sometimes a thought would get through and crack the dam. He felt himself breaking under the torrent of memories that overwhelmed him.

Arthur the King, Gaius who was like a father to him, Gwaine the hilarious knight who was almost always drunk, Gwen the kind-hearted Queen, Elyan, Percival, Leon, his mother. And suddenly the thoughts that he had fought to escape for the passed two years seemed to push him to the ground: _Had they looked for me? Why did they give up? Did they even care what had happened to me? Do they think I'm dead?_

Merlin felt himself being crushed by his own thoughts as he tried to regain his mental bearings. It was no use, he felt a wave of sadness pass over him and he collapsed to the floor in a bout of sobbing. Because Merlin knew that it was hopeless and that nobody would ever come to rescue him. He was completely alone here.

**I just want to thank everyone again for reviewing and want to apologize for the confusion with the poll last week. I forgot to put it on my account so if you we're wondering where the heck it was it is now up and ready for voting! If you have no clue how to vote in a poll just go to my account and the first thing you should see are the two polls that I have going, then scroll down to where all of my summaries are listed and pick the two you like. If you still dont know how to vote in a poll or dont have an account just leave your votes in the comments! Thanks!**

**Please review!**

**Wisegirl6**


	6. Unending Nightmare

**Hi Friends! Sorry for the giant break but I was really busy last week and the total lack of reviews really threw me off. I come bearing great news, I finally found a way to connect my laptop to the internet while I'm at my cottage! Victory is mine!  
Anyways, thanks to the very few people who did review the last chapter (It was my favourite chapter so far too) and to the people who voted on my poll.  
Whatever, on with the fic!  
Wisegirl6  
**

Chapter 6 ~The Ambush

"And so concludes our meeting for the day," said Arthur loudly. He could almost hear some of the council members sigh happily as they were allowed to leave the throne room. Arthur himself let out a breath he was almost positive that he'd been holding throughout the entire session. They were beyond boring now that _he _wasn't here anymore. Arthur and him would always shoot glances at each other like, '_can you believe this?' _whenever someone's speech was long or unimportant.

The King stood up suddenly and started for the door, George trailing at a respectful distance behind him. He tried to shake himself of the traitorous thoughts as he strode through the corridors to his chambers.

_I ran him through with my sword and dumped his body in a Mercian lake._

Arthur gritted his teeth as the memory hit him. It didn't faze him, though. He was much too used to hearing that certain man's voice and feeling the raw emotion that it always brought on.

"Sire, are you alright?" inquired George, who even though sounded concerned, managed to sound respectful and reserved at the same time.

Arthur took his sweet time before answering. "Just fine."

That was the way it was now with the King and his servant. Before, when Merlin had been Arthur's manservant, the two were good friends. But after Merlin_... left_ Arthur had wanted a servant that would do what he was told and shut up. Someone who would take orders and not question them. Who wouldn't care if the King dropped off of the face of the earth. It was either Merlin or no one at all. But since the King _needed _a manservant he decided to take up someone who was the exact opposite of Merlin, which is why he had George.

Arthur really hated George. Not because of his willingness to do almost anything, or the fact that he spoiled the King rotten, or the way he would just stand by, stoic and uncaring whenever Arthur was struggling with something, it was everything that George stood for, that Merlin wasn't, and couldn't, be there for him ever again.

"You can leave now, George," Arthur called over his shoulder as he continued on to his chambers. "I will not be needing your services tonight." He heard George murmur 'yes sire' before walking down the hall in the opposite direction.

_You should have heard him beg, 'please don't kill me, please!'_

By then Arthur had already reached his chambers and was sitting silently on the side of his four-poster bed. His breathing became ragged and his head sunk into his hands as that day came back to him in flashes.

_The knights had cornered the..._

No, he needed to stop dwelling in the past. As the King of Camelot his people expected him to look to the future, not reflect on the past. Yet, it was so hard to forget. That one day had changed Arthur's life, and not for the better. He would have given anything to change the tides on that one horrible evening. Maybe Merlin would still be here with him if he'd taken a different course of action.

The stop in the city had given the slave traders time to get a head start and...

Even after two years the thought was too horrible to even finish in his head.

It was then that Arthur became aware of exactly how exhausted he was. He felt as if the weight of the world was upon his shoulders and the only way to relieve himself of the burden would be to go to sleep. But, as amazing as the idea sounded, he just couldn't bring himself to go to bed. He just _couldn't_ relive that again.

After the incident Arthur had been plagued with nightmares night after night. There was no way of stopping them, Gaius had tried everything. There was nothing Arthur could do, either live through that same scene over and over again or just not sleep. The King had known that staying awake for the rest of his life just wasn't an option.

After a while the nightmares had gotten better, but after a really bad day they were almost always there.

Arthur was almost afraid to sleep, if he had been experiencing flashbacks while he was awake he didn't even want to know what would happen when he wasn't. The King sat there for awhile. But then, almost as if against his will, he found himself leaning backwards on his soft bed and letting the darkness claim him.

* * *

_The knights had cornered the slave traders in a small clearing just outside of Lot's Kingdom. For the past two weeks Arthur had been tracking them, Hell-bent on rescuing his friend._

_The young King wanted nothing more than to smash all of their heads in until he had gotten to Merlin, but Leon and the knights decided to take a more strategic approach._

_The knights and their King hid in the forest around a small dirt path, awaiting the slave trader's arrival. _

_A grieving mother. Sara, whose son had also been taken by the same traders had informed the royal that the slavers, led by the fearsome Askandar, had passed through their village not days before. She had recognized immediately as the same people who had sold her son Peter. 'I hope you succeed in rescuing your friend, Sire. Because if not you will forever remember their faces, they will be engraved in your mind from that moment on.' The woman had sounded so sad and utterly hopeless that Arthur had had no clue what to do. She was obviously someone whose entire life had been ripped away by those cruel men._

_Arthur tensed in the bushes, hearing the sound of someone, or a lot of someones, coming down the path. The plan was to cut the slavers off and ambush them from all sides. Arthur though it was ironic considering how they'd captured Merlin in the first place._

_As soon as the first trader appeared the knights were upon them. Arthur sprang into the fight, unsheathing his golden sword. The slave traders were caught completely off guard and almost unable to defend themselves at all. Within minutes of their attack most of the mercenaries had either fled with whatever they could carry, or slaughtered where they stood._

_Arthur pulled his sword from the back of a fallen slave trader in time to see one of the knights, Gwa__ine, hoist a wounded man up from the ground by his long overcoat. The young King didn't really care, so what if he was giving the man a piece of his mind; maybe roughing him up a bit._

_Arthur wanted to do exactly the same thing._

_The king walked forwards so that he was just behind Gwaine and his captive. Sara's accurate description as well as his past knowledge from fighting the same man when they had kidnapped Merlin immediately made Arthur recognize him as the leader of the troupe, Askandar.  
Arthur felt his blood boil in outrage. This was the man that had orchestrated this entire plan to capture his manservant. Even though they probably hadn't meant for Merlin to be their target they had still stolen him away from his life without a second thought._

_"Tell me where he is!" The shout broke through Arthur's contemplation. "Where is he?" snarled Gwaine, fury etched into every line of his usually carefree face._

_It took Arthur a moment to realize who the knight was referring to, but it soon became obvious. He cursed himself mentally for forgetting the entire reason that he was out here in the first place: Merlin. The King hadn't once looked for him since the attack had started._

_Askandar decided to play dumb. "Who?" he gurgled, a few drops of scarlet blood falling from his lips to stain the ground. The man was injured badly, probably dying. A wound like that through the stomach would give him only a few more precious minutes of life._

_"My servant," hissed Arthur through clenched teeth. "You and your men attacked our patrol and captured him two weeks ago." He stepped forward so that he towered above Askandar, who was still being half held up by Gwaine._

_The knight raised the slave trader higher in the air and brought Askandar's face close to his. "I'm not going to ask again," he said, venom dripping from every word. "Where. Is. Merlin?"_

_Askandar blinked. A moment of silence passed before his face broke into a wide, sadistic grin. "Oh, him," he laughed. "You should have heard the way he begged me, 'Please don't kill me, please I'll do anything!'" he mocked them, making his voice unpleasantly high._

_"Where is he?"_

_Askandar pulled his face away from Gwaine's and looked directly at Arthur. "He was too much trouble. Not worth it. I ran him through with my sword and dumped his body in a Mercian lake."_

_The King stumbled back as if struck, Merlin, cheeky, sarcastic, annoying Merlin, was dead?_

* * *

The King bolted upright in his bed in Camelot. "It was just a nightmare," he repeated to himself quietly. Sadly, it was a nightmare that didn't stop plaguing him once he woke up.

**Awwww, I feel kinda bad for Arthur, nah jk I don't. Lol. Anyways, I might be updating more this week because I'm at my cottage and its really cold, mostly. So please check out my new community here on Fanfiction, its called The Best Of The Merlin Archive and it has EVERYTHING, slash, romance, crack, gen, everything. **  
**Also, don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile because it decides which story I will write after Wayward.**

**Please tell me what you think, love it? Hate it? Wanna marry it? Want it to die painfully? Do tell. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Thanks for reading,**  
**Wisegirl6**


	7. New Job

**Hey Friends! So here's the new chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter because I spent quite a while working on it  
Wisegirl6**

Chapter 7 ~New Job

It was very boring being a slave for Cavell. If you weren't working you were kept in your cell with nothing to do and no one to talk to. Since Merlin only worked about 50 hours every week in the laundry room he spent about 120 hours sitting in his cramped, cold cell.

Merlin never thought that he would ever miss working. At least then he would have something to distract him from the constant cold and hunger that plagued him. That was really all he could do in his small cell. He couldn't remember the past, that was too painful, he couldn't look to the future, not that Merlin really had one here, so the only thing he could focus on was the present, and right now the present was very cold.

The young slave sat at the very back, like he did everyday. 'Only about 8 more hours before it's back to the laundry room,' he thought to himself in a monotone.

He was shaken from his thoughts as the door to the cell opened and two uniformed guards strode in. They marched right up to the warlock and hoisted him up by his shoulders.

"Where are you taking me?" he demanded as they dragged him through the dungeon corridors. It was much too early for him to be called back to work, and usually Cavell would inform him when he was need for other duties for the next day.

Their only answer was to tighten their already vice-like grips on Merlin's shoulders. What was uncomfortable became painful.

They led him up a large set of stairs and up into the main part of Cavell's 'fortress'. Merlin closed his eyes against the bright sunlight that streamed through the windows, after spending such a long time underground his eyes were too used to everything being dark.

It was pathetic really. The mighty Emrys, only being able to see the sun a couple of times a year. If the druids could see him now, cold and hungry and sick.

"Ah, this is the boy," drawled a cold voice from ahead of him.

Merlin clenched his teeth and forced himself to look down. If Cavell was here then so was Isobel, he rarely did anything without her; as Merlin had heard from his fellow slaves. Merlin wasn't afraid of Cavell, he was afraid of Isobel.

She was pure evil, what she did was sick and cruel. Not only did she take pleasure in causing pain in the initiations when helpless people were made her slaves, but she bound them in rules so tightly that everybody was powerless to escape her and return to their families and lives. Isobel might look innocent and beautiful at first glance but she was a cold, heartless, sadistic sorceress that you just didn't want to cross. She could happily order Merlin to kill himself and he would have to oblige.

The warlock stayed silent and kept his gaze trained on the floor. He knew better than to give a snarky reply like he would have done years ago, too may sharp backhands to the face had installed that lesson into him.

Cavell continued, regardless of the fact that he hadn't even received an answer," You are very lucky to be in this position right now, I know a lot of the other slaves would kill for your new job."

Merlin looked up after that, desperately trying to keep from looking at Cavell's blood-red clothed sorceress. He didn't want to meet her eyes; they had that criminally insane look about them, like she knew what she could do to Merlin and how much he feared her.

Cavell smiled an egotistic, supercilious smile; knowing that he had captured his audience's attention. "I have a proposition for you," he said almost joyously.

Merlin thought this was very weird, he barely even _saw _the Lord of this fortress, but here he was _smiling at him_ like Merlin had just won a sack of gold. Usually he was very reserved, stony, and cruel.

The Lord absent mindedly waved the guards back and began slowly walking forwards. "My wife, Isobel, has taken a certain interest in books lately. So, as a gift I bought her an entire library of books! Sadly, when the volumes were being delivered a nasty storm struck and ruined all of them." Cavell looked at Isobel apologetically but she waved it down and turned his gaze back to his slave.  
Merlin cocked his head slightly to the side and pursed his lips.

"I know what you must be thinking; where do you come into this?" drawled Cavell. "I need someone to treat the books so that they are still usable. So, you will be moved to the library so you can start work immediately. You will no longer be needed in the laundry rooms."

The slave felt a cold weight settle in his stomach, if he was being transferred jobs then how was he going to keep in touch with his friends? The answer was simple, he couldn't.

Going against everything that the last two years had stood for, Merlin tried to plead his case. "But, m'lord. I have no past knowledge in how to treat books, I would be more of a hinderance than a help," he said quietly.

"No problem," said Cavell, who had already turned his back on the slave and was walking down the corridor with Isobel by his side. "We have a librarian enlisted already that is familiar with the art of saving volumes from mildew and water."

The guards stepped forwards once more and led Merlin through winding passageway after winding passageway until they came to a set of pristine oak doors.

'Probably polished painstakingly by other slaves,' Merlin thought to himself miserably. Said doors were opened to reveal the most beautiful room Merlin had ever seen.

It was very large, with a high arching ceiling and pillars at regular intervals. The library was circular shaped so Merlin could see the entire room from where he was standing. Windows covered a portion of the walls, giving them a perfect view of the sun starting to set over the distant mountains and the fluffy snowflakes drifting down. But, the most wonderful part of the library wasn't the architecture, it was what the room contained. Books, from floor to ceiling shelves placed almost haphazardly about the room.

Merlin stepped closer to read one of the spines: _Basic Magical Science. _The warlock couldn't believe it, a book on magic! His gaze shifted to the next one, it read '_Magic In Healing'. _He quickly scanned the shelf, every single book contained magic. He let his conciousness slip and felt around the room, probing it with his mind. It was true, he could sense the very magic that was installed into every page; every word. The feeling was brilliant after spending such a long time starved of it.

Merlin desperately wanted to reach out and touch one of them, heck, he wanted to spend the rest of his life in this room, but the guards' patiences were being stretched and he didn't want to test them. So, with as much willpower as he could muster at his current state, the slave walked away and rejoined his escort.

They continued on to a table arranged in the very center of the library, piled high with books and what Merlin assumed were supplies. And there sitting at the table, hair pinned back and wearing _glasses _of all things, was...

_"Sage?!"_

**I bet none of you expected that. Anywho, this will probably be the last update for a while because I just got obsessed with Supernatural (I'm well on my way of becoming a SuperWhoLocker) and spend every available second trying to watch it online.  
Please review, remember more reviews means faster updates.  
Also, remember to vote on my poll because it will decide what story I write next!  
Check out:  
My community 'The Best Of The Merlin Archive'  
My Beta profile in case anyone is looking for someone to look over their stories.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Wisegirl6 :D**


	8. Sublimation, Spectacles, And Sage

**Hey 'Friends'. Though I suppose I can't really call you guys friends anymore because only 7 of my 'friends' bothered to review! Ya know, I'm still in elementary school, and I like getting praise on my work (It makes me feel special)! So please review today, because I actually had to do reasearch for this chapter! Yup, I kid you not, sublimation is a real thing! So yeah, review, please, for the cute (not) little elementary school girl who has next to no social life and lives on her minilaptop! Anyways, enjoy!  
****Wisegirl6**

Chapter 8 ~ Sublimation, Spectacles, and Sage

_"Sage?!" _

A brief look of shock crossed Sage's face before a smile lit up her eyes which were enhanced by the large spectacles balanced precariously on the bridge of her nose. "Merl'n."

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" he asked disbelieving as the guards ushered him into a chair next to Sage. He was starting to really hate these guards in particular.

She grinned brightly, reminding Merlin slightly of Gwaine,"By a large extent, I am your new boss."

"_You? _My boss?" he laughed, trying to pick his jaw up off of the ground.

"I am the new manor librarian. You're to be my assistantin saving all of these damaged books," said Sage, an underline of authority creeping into her voice.

Merlin watched as she brought out two glowing blue stones and reached for a book in the large stack next to her. "And you know how to do that? Saving damaged books, I mean."

Sage nodded, her glasses slipping farther down her face. She really did look ridiculous in them.

The slave girl immediately sprang into an explanation on how they were to do their jobs. All of the books were soaked through and needed to be dried out. Isobel had enchanted two large stones that were to cool down so much that they drew out the water right out of the book and it evaporated into the air. The process was called sublimation and would normally take many months as well as a mountain of snow and ice to dry out the entire library without magic. Merlin's job was to pass the enchanted stones over the pages of the books until they were completely dry before handing the book off to Sage who would catalogue them and shelve them according to some system that she had worked out.

So the two of them set to work on their respective jobs. Merlin drying the books and Sage organizing them.

Merlin really liked his job, not only did he get to spend time in a beautiful library with one of his good friends but all of the books were on _magic. _He could spend time reading them and just make it look like he was doing his job for Cavell (Though he was actually drying them). The point is, he was perfectly content with the new arrangement.

After a few hours of tireless working Cavell sent the _same _two guards to collect Merlin and bring him to an actual room, though the size of a broom closet, with an actual fireplace. According to them Cavell wanted him to stay there while he was working at the library so that he wouldn't have to walk as far to go to work. He _really _wanted his library done soon.

* * *

Weeks passed in a daily routine. Merlin would wake up, actually knowing when morning was now that he could see the sun, eat his still meager meal for the day and then would be whisked to work by his two guards, who's names Merlin learned were Jonathan and Dane, and work with Sage for the next 12 hours reading magic books. His life was better, but far from complete.

Merlin sat at his small table, still crowded with books, concentrating hard on memorizing a spell for shrinking, as well as drying the last page of a volume. The magic inside of him stirred as he recited the spell in his mind. Even though the warlock studied magic everyday Merlin hadn't actually _performed _any enchantments or spells or incantations in months.

Isobel's orders had been very clear when she made him swear '_No performing any magic' _on his Blood Oath when he'd been first taken into captivity. He hadn't been able to practice magic at all, and it was literally killing him. Merlin's magic was endless and boundless, few things could contain it, and it had just been building, storing itself for over two years ready to be freed at any second. Sadly, Blood Oaths were one of the things on the list of things powerful enough to render Emrys powerless, doing any magic resulted in a pain so great that it had yet to be described. Merlin knew that sooner or later his magic would have to expel itself in some way and he would be killed in the intense pain that followed. And Merlin had a sneaking suspicion that need would occur sometime soon.

He gazed miserably at his wrists. The effects of magic-deprivation were already too apparent. The veins on his arms were all either completely gold with contained magic or getting there.

"Merl'n?" said a quiet voice, knocking the slave from his reprieve. Sage was looking at him curiously, her eyes magnified to twice their size behind her glasses.

The warlock smiled and said something that caught Sage completely off guard,"You do realize how weird you look in those glasses, right?" he asked with a laugh.

Sage smiled widely, she had been wondering when her friend would say something about her new eyewear. Although she didn't tell many people, Sage was practically blind without her glasses. She'd had a pair back before being a slave but the traders had taken them from her. Glasses were expensive and barely anyone actually bothered to own a pair. If you ever saw a commoner wearing spectacles rest assured that they had been passed down in the family, not bought with their own money. "Thanks, and yes I do, I just really need them if I'm to read all of these spines and catalogue the books."

Merlin was reminded of the few times that Gaius had worn glasses like those. He had looked just as strange in them as Sage did. The smile melted off his face as quick as it had come.

A question that had been irking Merlin for some time surfaced in his mind,"Where did you learn to read and write and catalogue books anyways?"

Sage's smile dropped as she recalled the memories."My pa, he was a scholar, and he was the Court librarian of Caerleon. He taught me and my older brothers how to read, he wanted them to take over his duties once he'd died like his father did for him, but my brothers wanted to become knights. In the end they chose brawn over brains so I took up the task of carrying on our family legacy. So my pa took me from my village, Daele, and educated me in everything I'd need to know. It was on the trip home when the bandits attacked. They disarmed my father and one of my brothers that had come with us and knocked them out. When they woke up we were long gone."

Merlin was shocked. Sage had never opened up to any of the slaves like this, nevermind him. The warlock was shocked to see tears slip silently down the slave girl's face. Her expression remained the same but her her eyes were glassy. Merlin moved away, recognizing the feeling as the same one that overtook him when he reminisced about the past. Wordlessly, Merlin reached down and hugged the unresponsive girl before heading for the doors to the library, Sage needed time alone, that much was obvious.

**Okay, that was an uncalled for ending. Just in case you guys were wondering, this will NOT be a Merlin/OC story, Sage is just a friend to Merlin. Like a really annoying little sister. **  
**Also please vote on my poll, because once I finish writing this story (I'm already on chapter 16) I need something else to write and I have sooooo many plot bunnies!**  
**NOTICE: Wisegirl6 will be on vactaion at Eagle Lake Ringette Camp from Sun. to Sat. this week, so unless you want the next chapter to be a week from now I advise you to review and I will update on Saturday (This Saturday) but I want at least 10 reviews!**  
**Please review, it not only makes me update faster but it really helps with the crteative writing process *Wink Wink* **

**Wisegirl6**


	9. Happily Ever After (Not)

**Hey Friends! It's been awhile hasn't it? Oh well. Sorry, I know I promised that I would post another chapter if I got more than 10 reviews but I left for camp much earlier than expected. So sorry to anyone who was waiting for the update to come! Oh well. **

**Anyone else heard of The Complete Doctor Who going on on Space now? Every Sunday they're playing a full day of older New Who. That means more Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant! OH JOY! **

**Anyways, thanks to anyone who reviewed! And special thanks to EmrysTheMerlin for reviewing EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER! You guys should totally follow her example.**

**Furthermore, enjoy the story!**

Chapter 9~ Happily Ever After (Not)

Merlin knew it was too good to last. His great job with his friend and much improved sleeping quarters. The warlock had almost forgotten that he was a slave for a moment. That's why everything caught him so off guard.

The two slaves had been working tirelessly for weeks on end, almost a quarter of the library was organized and ready to read. At the moment Sage was thrilling Merlin with a fable she had heard once about a slave girl that married a prince and became the most amazing queen to ever rule the land.

Merlin really liked the tale, it reminded him a lot of his old friend Guinevere who had became a great queen as well regardless of the fact that she wasn't of noble blood. Surpisingly, the thought brought him comfort instead of causing him pain.

Merlin wasn't bothered anymore by thoughts of his old life in Camelot. The one he had here wasn't stellar, but it was liveable. He had a job, made friends, and got to spend his time studying magic unillegaly. Now that he was done feeling sorry for himself he had really been able to leave all thoughts of his life previous behind him. This was his life now. Merlin wouldn't be getting back to Camelot anytime soon, so why bother pretending that he was? But, a tiny part of the warlock still hoped for a chance to see Arthur and Gaius and Gwen and all of his friends again. Merlin knew it was irrational but he didn't care.

"... and they lived happily ever after," finished Sage as she picked up a random book and placed it in it's appropriate pile. She gave a small, humorless snort.

Merlin looked up at her questioningly.

"Have you ever wondered why it ends like that? 'Happily ever after', as if," Sage scoffed. "Its impossible. There's too much wrong with this world for _anyone _to live happily ever after. We're bloody slaves for crying out loud!" Sage said, her voice rising in volume.

Merlin realized that he would have to calm his friend down before the guards heard and she was in real trouble. He squeezed her arm in what he hoped was a reassuring way "Come on, Sage, we're perfectly fine living here. We have food, a roof over our heads, jobs, and we're completely safe from the perils of life elsewhere."

Sadly, Merlin's words had the opposite effect. The slave girl rose from her chair with fire burning in her hazel eyes. "You can't honestly believe that! These people are evil!"  
the warlock opened his mouth, ready to plead his case, but Sage beat him to it.

"You've played right into their hands!" They want you to think that this _life _you have here is complete, that its actually worthwhile, but its not!" she snarled. Sage glanced around before speaking again, luckily this time she was quieter. "Isobel and Cavell are sadistic, murderous, sick people. They would see you dead without batting an eyelash. You know how Helena passed away last spring?"

The slave nodded, not understanding what the question was meant to prove.

"I don't think that plague killed her," Sage whispered without breaking eye contact.

Merlin reeled back in shock, immediately denying it. "No, Sage. Cavell and Isobel didn't kill her for some sick entertainment. Lots of people died that spring, she was just one of the many."

Sage glared at him before slamming the volume she was holding down loudly on the table and pushing her chair out. "I'm leaving. Until you're ready to stop playing along with this messed up game that you've obviously apart of now, leave me alone," Sage hissed as she walked away.

Merlin was about to stand up and tell her off, but someone else got there first. "You there, girl, why aren't you working?" said Cavell as he strode into the room.

Sage immediately shrank back and the fire in her eyes was stamped out. "I was, I mean, I'm working still."

"Doesn't look like it to me," glared Cavell, peering at Sage like she was worth nothing more than the sack of gold she was bought for. He gazed loathingly around the library. "You have been working at this for just under five months, correct?"

Merlin nodded.

The lord scoffed. "Miserable work, you're a pathetic excuse for a slave you know that?" He said, sparing a small glance at his friend.

The warlock felt the anger in him rise, Sage just looked forlornly at the ground. "Hey, she's not pathetic," Merlin almost whispered. He regretted the words as soon as they had crossed his lips. He entwined his hands in front of him, hoping with all of his might that his master had not heard what he'd said.

Sadly he had. "_Excuse me?" _hissed Cavell, rounding on the young man. "What _exactly _did you just say?" The tension in the air was almost palpable as he waited for Merlin to speak.

The warlock took a deep breath and clenched his teeth. "I said, she's not pathetic."

Anyone would have thought that Merlin had uttered some string of profanity for the look of raw anger he got from Cavell. "You would do better to mind your place, _slave." _Cavell seemed to contemplate Merlin for a moment. "Come here," he commanded coldly.

Merlin rose and walked so that he was just in front of his master.

The first thing the lord did was slap him, hard and quick. His jewelled ring dug into Merlin's face, leaving a nasty scratch just below his left eye. "That will teach you not to speak against your betters, boy. Guards, have him brought back to his cell, his job here in the library is terminated."

Merlin felt a cold weight settle in his stomach.

But Cavell wasn't done yet,"Also, just so that he knows not to talk unless ordered to, I want ten slashes done on his back." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping dangerously low, "_Don't hold back." _With that Cavell stepped back, turned around and marched back down the corridor that he had come by.

The guards stepped forwards and grabbed him by the shoulders.

Merlin made no effort to resist, it wouldn't change the fact that he was about to be flogged. But, before they could drag him away, he spared one last glance at Sage.

The slave girl looked at him sadly, with an underlining of something that Merlin could recognize as a sort of 'I told you so' look. She had warned him that Cavell wasn't to be taken lightly, but he hadn't heeded her words. Now Merlin was about to be whipped, something that could have been prevented if only he had been cautious.

The journey to the the room where he was about to be flogged passed in a daze. Merlin felt numb all over as he let the guards drag him. The only thing he could think about was what was to come.

Merlin had never been whipped before, despite the numerous times that Arthur had threatened it. The sound of the whip cracking down on his back ate through his conciousness. Or at least what he imagined it would sound like. Ten times, it would come down ten times before it was over. Only ten.

The thought offered some comfort to Merlin as he was dragged into a small stone room only a few paces from the dungeons. He was stripped of his shirt and his arms were latched above his head so that he was half standing half kneeling. The guards left his neckcherchief on, for that he was thankful.

Merlin had kept the old strip of red fabric through his two yaers of slavery as a reminder of the life that had been taken from him. After he arrived he was given new clothes and his old ones were taken, Cavell and Isobel didn't want to take any chances on anyone recognizing a slave through what they'd worn in the past. But when they'd took his clothes Merlin had begged them to let him keep that one thing. The Lord and his wife had obliged, after all who would remember a man because of a silly little red neckerchief?

With a crack, the first slash came down upon Merlin; white-hot pain racing down his body. The slave cried out, not even bothering to hide his screams.

Again and again. Each blow was like a fiery sword being pushed into his back. Merlin wondered how many times the whip had slahed him. Three times? Five? He lost count in the haze of pain that was being inflicted on him. The slashes blurred together until the only thing Merlin could feel was pain. Was this what dying felt like?

Death. Death sounded pretty great right now. Freedom from this pain. No more slavery, no more anything; just pure bliss. He could just slip away right then and put an end to his misery. As soon as the thought crossed Merlin's mind his body acted upon it. The warlock could feel his life slipping away, and he was glad for it.

_"Come on you idiot. Are you really so much of a girl that you honestly have to go dying just because of a few lashes? God, Merlin!"_

The voice was clarity to Merlin's failing mind. Arthur. He couldn't die here, or he would never see Arthur again. What was he doing? He shouldn't be letting go, he should be fighting back! Suddenly everything came back to Merlin in a rush of colour, sound and pain.

He was surprised to find himself lying facedown on the cold floor of his cell, still shirtless and freezing cold. The slave tried sitting up, only to have his injured back scream with protest. Merlin reached back with his hands and gently probed the area, wincing as it sent pain lancing up his body. His hand came back drenched in blood, he was losing a lot of it.

Merlin glanced around his cell in dismay, there was next to nothing that he could do other than sit here and wait out the pain. Maybe Cavell would send Stephen to help him, I mean the lord didn't want Merlin to die, right?

It was then that Merlin realized that Sage was right this entire time about Cavell and Isobel, they were nasty, coldblooded killers.

**Yay, another chapter done! I hope everyone liked it! **

**Just wanted to wish a happy first day of school to anyone whos already started or is starting soon! I can't believe summer's already over!**

**And this is just a little side note to inform you guys of a reviewer who dropped some flames on me. They insulted my author's notes, and although it doesn't sound like much it really hurt me because it was insulting me as a person instead of my writing. Ouch. Well, I don't knnow if that person is reading this but, wow thanks a lot for the trolling. Look, I'm going to put this simply, if you have the heart to insult a preteen girl then you really need to re-check you're moral compass. **

**Anyways, please check out my fan account on Insatgram (It only has like 4 followers) Imgonnagofangirlnow. I post lots of Merlin stuff as well as Superwholock and anything else that catches my fancy.**

**Also, make sure to vote on the poll on my profile because it decides what story I'm going to write next!**

**Wisegirl6**


	10. Cold Black Eyes

**Hellooo Friends! Sorry for not updating for a while, but school made it super hard to write between all of the work, pressure and homework. Being the new kid sucks, especially when everyone's been in the same class for 3 years. But, I'm pulling through, made some new friends and I'm trying to catch up on my French. Four words. Three bad French teachers. I hope you're first week at school went better. **

**Anyways, while writing today I was struck with an epiphany for the plot of this story. I have most of the details worked out for the beginning and end, but there's this one little part in the middle that I just keep saying 'I'll get to it when I get to it.' Well news flash, I'm writing that section and I'm out of ideas. But, today while I was writing an especially cute scene between Gwen and Merlin I had a totally amazing idea! What is it you say? Read to find out!**

**Enjoy,  
Wisegirl6 :D**

Chapter 10 ~Cold Black Eyes

Merlin's back still really hurt from the lashings. Cavell had permitted Stephen time to treat Merlin's wounds, but with such meager supplies the physician might as well have been giving him more hits to the back for all of the help it did.

The slave was instructed not to move too much and given some medication to help with the pain. He settled into a semi-comfortable position against the wall, using his head for support and doing all he could to not touch his wounds to the cold stone behind him. 'Great,' he thought to himself. 'Hungry, cold, sick, and now in pain.' Merlin spent the next three days writhing in pain and trying not to strain his back, wishing that he had his mentor's healing knowledge and comfort to help him get through this. He was beyond bored now, at least before he could move around his cell. Also, after losing his job at the library Cavell had forgotten to reinstate his old one in the washing room, leaving him with plenty of time to himself.

Merlin thought about a lot of things in his solitude. His thoughts were mainly towards pain, hunger, and the longing for his old life in Camelot. Now that the lashings had awakened him (albeit rudely) to the harsh reality of life as a slave once more Merlin put more of his energy into coming up with escape plans.

He could blast through the walls using his magic... but that would require actually _having _magic again. If Merlin could just figure out how to release himself from the Blood Oath he could not only free himself, but the rest of the slaves as well as Sage, Jordan, Peter, and Sophie.

He could kill Isobel, but that would require the ability to actually be able to harm his captors _and _escape his cell using only what he had available.

A thought struck Merlin, maybe he could ask one of the guards for help, not all of them were bound by Blood Oaths after all. But, _of course, _Merlin couldn't do that because plotting a mass breakout was _also _against the codes of his Blood Oath. Merlin _really _hated Blood Oaths.

Merlin tried to consider his options, if he could find a way around the rules he could use that to escape. So, he made a mental list of all the things Isobel had forbade him, or the other slaves, to do.

_1- No using magic  
2- No attempting to escape  
3- Consorting with ANYONE about escape is also prohibited  
4- No telling anyone that you are being kept as a slave, were captured by slave traders and sold, or under an enchantment  
5- Follow all commands of my husband's in my absence  
_

Merlin frowned at the wall opposite him, that ruled out almost anything that could help him get back to Camelot. Him and Sage had talked a bit before about the Blood Oath and she told him that if he could remember Isobel's exact wording that he could find a loophole in the rules. So instead Merlin tried making a list of all of the things he _could _do.

_1- He might not be able to use magic himself but he could get his hands on a powerful object or he could get someone else to perform it for him.  
2- It's not an attempt if it works  
3- Merlin could just write something down instead of talking.  
4- Again, he could just write down that he was being held captive  
_He couldn't get around 5 but it wasn't that important anyways.

Merlin didn't have much to work with, but he was hell bent on getting out of there.

It was days later when the guards showed up. Merlin had been doing the same thing that he always did, nothing, when the small window on the door of his cell opened up to reveal two inquisitive looking men wearing the black insignia that all of Cavell's more official staff wore.

"Do you think Cavell would take this one? He looks pretty healthy to me," said the older one with the beard.

Merlin almost scoffed at the guard's stupidity. The slave boy could have used quite a few words to describe himself at the moment, but 'healthy' definitely wasn't one of them.

The younger guard seemed to catch Merlin's drift. "No, this kid is far from fine. Don't you see the slashes on his back? He obviously misbehaved and was punished for it. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get in trouble for sticking 'im on the trip to see the King."

Merlin immediately perked up, lifting his head to look at them. Were they seriously thinking of picking him to actually _leave the fortress? _The idea was much too surreal to be real. "Trip, what trip?" he asked quickly.

The guards ignored him. "Really, what harm can it do? If Cavell doesn't want him, then Cavell will dismiss him, simple as that."

They continued arguing for what Merlin thought was an awfully wasteful amount of time before deciding to bring him to Cavell and Isobel for judgement. They dragged him none too carefully up flights of stairs and down hallways and corridors until they came to the fortress' Great Hall.

Merlin had been in the Great Hall twice before, once when Cavell was hosting a feast and had needed someone to wait on him; and once when Isobel had been performing one of her 'reinstating ceremonies' where she inforced new rules upon the slaves, pulling them further into her control.

The Hall consisted of a large dark windowless stone room decorated with black tapestries featuring Cavell's family's symbol, a gold six-pointed star. At the head of the room there was a long ebony table with four matching chairs, one for Cavell, one for Isobel, one for Michael; Cavell's younger brother, and one for Cavell's son Jonah.

Jonah was just as scary and cruel as both of his parents, maybe even worse. He treated the slaves like dirt and apparently took pleasure in having them beaten so that he could watch. Jonah was a few years younger than Merlin, probably nineteen at the oldest. He was tall and muscular, with dark hair and almost black eyes. Luckily, Jonah was away with relatives most of the time so the only things Merlin knew about him were those which he had determined in the brief meetings with the lord's son and from the stories the other slave told.

At the moment only three of the four chairs were occupied, unfortunately Jonah's was one of them.  
The guards hauled Merlin into line beside the other slaves (There were about twenty of them in all, with Sage among the ranks) and stepped back so that calculating eyes of his master's family was on him.

Cavell looked at him cooly, seeming to forget that he had had the boy whipped just a week previous.

Isobel regarded him with distaste. Merlin couldn't blame her, he probably looked dreadful wearing dirty clothes, his hair matted and dirty, he hadn't bathed or washed in days, and he was so thin that every bone stood out almost inhumanly prominent against his pale skin that hadn't seen the sun in years. That along with the grosteque blood soaked bandages on his back and ugly-looking cut on his face didn't make him much of a sight for sore eyes.

Jonah, however, was studying him like he was a pig ready for slaughter, dark eyes glinting maliciously.

Merlin tried to hold back a shudder at the thought of what Jonah could do to him if he were given free reign over the slave. The last thing the warlock needed was to look weak while all of them were staring straight at him.

They all stayed like that for a while, just silently staring, before Jonah leaned over to whisper in his mother's ear. It was too quiet to make out, but whatever he'd said obviously made Isobel uncomfortable.

She stared at the table for a while before nodding at her son. She pointed to the guards before pointing to individual people in line, picking the slaves who looked the healthiest. "Bring them to the rooms for readying for the journey," she said strongly and clearly.

'That's it,' Merlin thought to himself. 'I'm never getting out of here.'

But to the slave's utter amazement he found Isobel's finger coming down to gesture at him, hesitating for just a second.

Merlin couldn't hear anything as the guards marched him from the room over the pounding of his heart in his ears.

_He was going to leave the fortress. He was really leaving. _

**Okay, the story is starting to progress from here but I will still be a couple chapters before they actually get to Camelot. I know, most of you want a reunion but it will come and I swear it will be amazing! It's not going to happen right at the end either so I hope you're ready for it! **

**Thanks a lot for all of your support with the flame reviewer, it really made me feel better that so many people were supportive and nice! **

**Okay, so the usual stuff  
Vote on my poll if you haven't already!  
Check out my community 'The Best Of The Merlin Archive'  
Look at my Beta profile if you're in need of one  
Follow me on Instagram: ImGonnaGoFangirlNow I post Merlin, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Taylor Swift, and whatever else catches my fancy!**

**Please review because I love reviews!**

**Wisegirl6**


	11. Aftermath and Anniversary

**Helo Friends! I'm back with another chapter!** **Sorry for the giant gap in between updates, but in all fairness my internet wasn't working properly, there was a Doctor Who marathon on, and the chapter was super long and hard to write! It ended up being about 2200 words! And I'm talking about Chapter 17 right now, not 11. **

**Anyways I won't keep you with my mindless chatter, enjoy!**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 11 ~Aftermath and Anniversary

Merlin was feeling more than a little overwhelmed with everything that was happening. Right after the scene in the Great Hall with his masters, Merlin had been whisked away to a small room where a group of frantic maids had cleaned and bandaged his wounds, helped him wash, cut his hair, changed his clothes and given him something to eat in a space of under an hour. Sadly they hadn't given him anything for the cut on his face. After that the slave was escorted - much more nicely - back to his cell.

Merlin tried to sleep but it was no use. Thoughts kept racing through his mind, so fast that he barely had any time to really ponder them. He was actually leaving! Well, only for a while but Merlin reckoned that it was better than nothing.

Merlin wondered where they were going, the guards had talked about a king so they were obviously traveling to a Kingdom, one of the larger ones judging by the amount of slaves coming. That meant they could be going anywhere, Mercia, Caerleon, maybe even Camelot.

The thought sent shivers of excitement racing up the warlock's spine. He would give almost anything to see Camelot again, even if just for a little while. He longed to see everyone once more before the sickness that was affecting his magic claimed his life.

Merlin lost himself in memories of the great kingdom; it's sounds, odd smells (Though he didn't really miss those), dense forests, sprawling fields, architecture, and its amazing people.

Merlin fingered his neckerchief, trying to recall exactly what everyone looked like. After being away from home for so long that he was starting to forget, which scared him a lot. Without those happy memories he was nothing.

He remembered Gwen, who was all sweet smiles and brown curls He remembered Gwaine, with his devilish grins and long hair. He remembered Gaius, who was like a father to him, even when he was being 'completely stupid', as Sage would have put it. He remembered Arthur, blonde hair and blue eyes that were almost always glaring at him.

Merlin had always seen right through those looks that the king had always given him, he knew that Arthur cared for him even if he had never said it out loud. The warlock just wished that he could be there for his best friend as he matured and became the great king that united the land of Albion and allowed magic to be practiced legally. Sadly, Merlin didn't think he'd live long enough to see that happen.

He held up his wrists so that he could see them better. The signs of the trapped magic were most prominent there; Merlin figured it was because he always held up his hands while doing magic, so the magic immediately stored itself in the appendages all ready to use.

The slave took a shuddering breath, he could hide the affects of his illness just fine in public, but he didn't even bother trying anymore when he was by himself. Merlin knew that he wouldn't be alive for too much longer, the sickness had already spread to his lungs, making it harder to breathe. Soon it would reach his heart and it would simply stop beating, just like that. Well, either that or it would explode from him in a giant golden supernova, killing him in the process. Either way it ended in his death.

It was weird knowing that he had limited time in this world. Merlin always imagined he would die at the hands of some foe, just having given his life to save one of his friends'. Never, in his wildest dreams, had he ever expected to lose his life to an infection that originated with his magic, it just didn't make sense.

His magic was always there for him, a constant presence in the back of his mind; something he could count on when all else failed. It had gotten him out of so many brushes with death, but now it was going to be the one to end his life. How ironic.

Merlin sighed and leaned his head against the wall, trying to shake himself. He shouldn't be standing around feeling sorry for himself, if Merlin could come up with an escape plan maybe this wouldn't end in his death.

* * *

"My family and I thank you for your hospitality, I think it goes without saying that I shall follow up on my promise of half of this year's harvest for Camelot," said lord Joseph as he shook Arthur's hand once more before going to join his wife and two daughters who were waiting to leave from atop their horses.

The king of Camelot smiled at the retreating form of the noble and his servants. Lord Joseph was nice enough, but more than two straight weeks of just talking about business and deals with someone could put a bit of a damper on any relationship.

Arthur turned to the knights and guards that were assembled. "Everyone is dismissed. Resume your usual duties," he said as the group broke formation.

Guinevere sighed from next to the king. "So many visitors, I can hardly wait for all of this to be over," she said glumly.

Arthur looked at her questioningly, eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?" he asked. "They just left!"

The queen sighed again, this time at her husband. He was a great king, and an even better warrior, but sometimes he was just so clueless. "You forgot, didn't you, Arthur?" she smiled at him.

"I did not!" he said defensively, crossing his arms.

Guinevere looked at him expectantly, not at all surprised when he didn't elaborate. "We have another lord coming in three days time, a noble family from Mercia. Remember, he owns a large expanse of land close to the southern border?"

Arthur groaned before smiling at Gwen, she was an amazing queen, regardless of the fact that she didn't come from noble or royal blood. Usually he just let her do all the talking when it came to treaties and matters of state, only speaking when he was required to. The lords and ladies would always look weirdly at her for a moment after Guinevere said something even remotely intelligent. Obviously a lot of people thought that he had just married her for her beauty, and not because she was charming, caring, smart, and elegant.

"Ah, yes, him. He visited once years ago, didn't he?" Arthur asked as he walked up the stairs into the castle, his queen in tow. "What was his name? It always seemed to slip my mind when he was here."  
Guinevere thought for a moment before responding ",Cavell, I believe that was his name. Yes, lord Cavell and his wife, lady Isobel. We met last year when you posed that treaty with Mercia. They were very nice people. Isobel talked a lot about her son Jonah, I believe he will be visiting with them this time."

Arthur nodded absent-mindedly. He hadn't really liked lord Cavell very much, the cold gaze he always regarded the king with always reminded him of his father when he was disappointed with the prince.

Guinevere suddenly stopped walking, a strange look crossing her face.

The king turned to look at her, clearly puzzled. "Gwen, What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I think I should be asking you that," she said with a small, meaningless smile.

Arthur raised his eyebrows. He didn't understand what she meant.

Gwen's false smile disappeared. "Today's the anniversary of..." she trailed off for a moment, sparing a glance out the window. Unshed tears sparkled in her eyes.

"Gwen?" asked the king as he stepped forwards and lightly grasped his wife's arm.  
A tear streaked down her face. Guinevere's bottom lip was trembling, but she continued regardless ",The anniversary of when it happened."

Arthur felt like he'd been slapped. "Oh," he whispered, voice small.

Three years ago it happened today. Merlin died. Brutally and mercilessly ripped from their grasps because of a sadistic man who thought that the servant was only worth a sack of gold.

Arthur felt his hands form fists.

What right had he had to just kill him? To decide that his time upon this earth was done? To take someone away from their friends and family? Nobody should be playing God. Nobody.

Merlin had been an innocent, he hadn't offended anyone, attacked anyone, done anything. And yet that man thought that he could just end his life because he wanted to.

Arthur pulled away from his queen. "I'm sorry Guinevere, I need to go," he mumbled.

Gwen nodded at him, she understood. The two friends had been inseparable while Merlin was alive, of course it would affect him like this. She watched as he walked briskly down the corridor back to their shared chambers. The queen didn't make any move to follow.

**Yay! Another chapter up! So I just want to say thanks for the reviews, you guys are awesome! Like truly. Yeah, anyways, guess who's gonna be Morgana for Halloween!? That's right Me! But, I need your help. I don't know whether I should be good Morgana or bad Morgana? Leave your answer in the reviews!**

**Also check out MY INSTAGRAM, IMGONNAGOFANGIRLNOW and the POLL on MY PROFILE. **

**Not sure what's up with the CAPS, guess I just LIKE caps lock. **

**please review!**

**Wisegirl6 :D**


	12. Skipping Stones

**Hey friends! I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long for a chapter.** **I had a teensy little bit of writer's block, but don't worry I have solved my predicament and persevered on! I hope you like this chapter and... Gosh darnit I'm no good at author's notes!**

**Enjoy,**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 12 ~Skipping Stones

They had been walking for at least eight hours straight now. Merlin's feet ached and the constant movement had reopened the wounds on his back, making it feel like someone had taken a lit torch to it.

Cavell hadn't provided any of his 'servants' with horses, so the slaves were forced to walk alongside each other behind the procession of guards and nobles.

Sage walked next to her friend, offering her silent support. She had been angry at first when Merlin had been taken by the guards, it was right what he deserved for letting his guard down around the master. Cavell was a cruel, arrogant man who thrived off of the suffering of others. Sage had tried to make Merlin realize that, but he had refused to believe what was right in front of his eyes. Sage thought he had got what he deserved.

But later, when all the slaves were gathered in the Great Hall, she'd seen how miserable and weak he looked. His tunic was soaked through with blood at the back and she could see the red stained bandages going all the way up to his neck. Merlin had learned his lesson, she could tell by the way he regarded his masters. The cold hatred and raw fear she felt herself when she saw them.

So now they were friends again, for the most part. Sage was still mad at Merlin for not believing her and Merlin wasn't all too happy with the fact that Sage had yelled at him. Regardless of how they felt about one another, the two slaves raised the metaphorical white flag of truce. After all, they would need one another to escape, as much as Sage hated to admit it. They would start plotting as soon as they got to the kingdom, whatever one that might be.

Merlin stumbled over the stone-strewn ground, arms wind milling wildly to help him keep balance. With an almighty crash he tipped backwards onto ground, screaming in pain as the world went white.

Sage rushed forwards to help, but was pushed away by two big guards.

The shorter, stronger-looking one grabbed Merlin by the back of his neck and hoisted him up.

The slave cried out as the large hand dug into the lashes on his back.

"Stop it!" Sage shouted from the ground feet away from them. "You're hurting him!"

The other guard turned toward her, fury etched into his face. "You would do good to remember your place, girl." With that he raised his hand and brought it down on her cheek.

Expecting the pain, Sage closed her eyes. Her face lurched to the side as the beefy hand met it's mark.

The slave girl kept her head down as they pushed Merlin forwards to catch up to the rest of the group. Without waiting for them to pick her up, Sage stood and raced after him, ignoring the stinging in her cheek. She caught up to him pretty quickly, he was in so much pain that he could barely walk.

Merlin felt a small arm snake itself under his own to help support him.

"Are you alright, Merl'n?"

The warlock couldn't help but give a weak smile at the way Sage still pronounced his name wrong. He glanced in her direction, slightly alarmed to see a thin trail of blood running down her face coming from under her right eye. "Are _you _alright?"

She looked at him weirdly and raised her free hand to her cheek, frowning when it came away red. "I'm fine, just got struck a bit too hard," Sage said as she took off her eyeglasses. "These must've dug into my face when he hit me.

"You shouldn't have done that," whispered Merlin.

Sage looked at him incredulously. "I'm just repaying the favor."

* * *

Finally, after hours of walking, Cavell permitted the slaves to set up camp. Of course, they would be setting up camp for the nobles, the slaves themselves would be sleeping on the ground and under constant guard.

Sage was picked to distribute food to the slaves and Merlin immediately volunteered to do it with her. So the two strode timidly about camp, handing out strips of venison and allowing each slave to take a few sips of water from a water skin. There wasn't nearly enough to feed everyone, and Merlin found himself having to sacrifice his own supper just so some of the younger slaves could get something to eat.

Merlin drained the last few drops in the water skin and made his way over to Sage, who had obviously just got another task from Isobel. "Need any help?" He asked when they were out of earshot of the nodded and said, "She's asked me to wash these in the creek over there." She gestured to the stack of dishes in her hands and then to the tree line at the opposite side of camp.

"I'm sure she won't mind if I tag along," Merlin whispered, sparing a mischievous glance at Isobel.

Sage laughed and handed the warlock a few plates and goblets.

The creek that Sage had mentioned turned out to be more of a small river, lined with trees and pebbles.

Sage walked past him and dropped to her knees by the banks, setting her share of the dishes down in the water.

Merlin just smiled, totally ignoring her. It had been a long time since he had been this close to a body of water. Forgetting all about the dishes, he tore past the slave girl and ran into the welcoming waves of the river. It wasn't very deep, only coming to just above his waist.

Sage looked at him curiously from the shore, obviously torn between reprimanding him and going to join him. "Get out of there, before one of the guards sees you and tells Isobel," she scolded him, obviously settling for the former.

The warlock just laughed, splashing her with water. "Lighten up a bit, Sage."

All he got in return was a scowl.

Merlin waded closer to shore and said,"Here if you're not going to join me you should at least have a little fun." He reached down and picked up a small, flat stone from the riverbed. "This was something me and my friend Will used to do all the time back in Ealdor." Merlin threw the stone across the surface of the water, smiling delightedly when it skipped across the top a few times before disappearing once more below the waves. "You try," he said as he passed her another stone.

Sage took it and tried to mimic what Merlin had done moments before, only for it to fail spectacularly.  
Merlin laughed, "Not many people get it on their first try, let me help you."

So the two made a little game of it, seeing who could skip their rock the most times before it sank. Merlin won every time, Sage was still rubbish at it.

After a while Sage retreated back to the shore to clean the dishes claiming that Isobel would punish the slaves if she caught them slacking.

Merlin didn't join her. He was too wrapped up in the fun of freedom for the time being. The last time he'd been swimming had been years ago, it was barely a distant memory now.

He had been out with Arthur and the knights on a check up on some of the outer villages. It had been just after Morgana's latest attack and Arthur had thought that it would calm the tension in some of the villages if their king were to come around to make sure that everything was fine.  
They had just finished looking over the last village and had been resting in a clearing somewhere near Caerleon's borders. Gwaine had seen a lake and the situation had virtually deteriorated after that. The rogue knight had immediately jumped in, armor and all, and pulled in Merlin (who was really not expecting it at all). The rest of the knights had then proceeded to join them, excluding a rather unimpressed-looking Leon and an angry King.

Arthur's scathing glares had eventually made them retreat from the waters, but not before a rather intense game of 'Let's Try To Drown Merlin Without Actually Drowning Him.'

It was a great memory, one of the last fond ones that he had held onto in his time with the slavers.

Merlin would have traded anything to be able to relive that. But, sadly, he couldn't, at least not while he was a slave.

Just then something caught his eye from behind a clump of dense bushes. Curiously, he waded over and pushed them aside. Merlin gasped," Oh my God, Sage come and look, blueberries, actual _blueberries_!"

**Okay, people I was hit with a total epiphany today! So I found this person that was totally copying someone else's story (I'm not gong to name names) and I was super upset. So I sent the person a review telling that I would report it if she didn't take it down and the next day I see this in my Inbox: Response to your very foolish review. So I read it and it made me beyond mad that that person would speak to me that way. But then it hit me: they didn't matter. If they want to copy someone else's story they can go right ahead. But what will it accomplish? Half of their reviews were telling them to take own their story and the other half technically belonged to the REAL author of the story. Taking someone else's writing isn't going to make you a better person and it CERTAINLY doesn't make you a better author!**

**WOAH SORRY ABOUT THAT, I just felt like I needed to get that out there. **

**Anyways I hope you liked the chapter (Angsty author's notes aside) and please give me a review!**

**Anyone wanna check out my Instagram? ImGonnaGoFangirlNow? Well if you want to its got Merlin, SPN, DW, Sherlock, and whatever else suits my fancy. ;)**

**Please review!**

**Wisegirl6**


	13. Blueberries

**Hey! I really didn't think that I'd be posting so soon after the last chapter, but the plot bunnies showed up early for work so I thought that I'd make them happy and do some writing! So I'm just gonna skip the weird into and just let you start reading now.**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 13 ~Blueberries

Sage didn't believe him at first. "Don't be pulling my leg Merlin," she said nonchalantly as she pushed the stack of already clean plates to the side. "Joking about things like blueberries just aren't nice."

But Merlin wasn't listening. He had already leapt up onto the shore and was pulling the berries from the plant like he would never see them again. "I'm not joking, they're real!" he laughed, sounding as if he barely believed it himself.

Sage looked up, blinking when she saw the blueberries in Merlin's outstretched hands. "No way in bloody hell,' she whispered to herself as she tripped over scattered dishes in her desperation to get to him.

Merlin had already stripped half the bush by the time she got there and was busy stuffing his face. Since the warlock had given up his dinner for the other slaves he was more than famished; the last time he had eaten was back at the fortress.

"What should we do with them?" asked Sage as she pulled a few more berries and popped them into her mouth. "I mean, other than eat them."

Merlin looked at her weirdly. What did she mean by that? "What?"

"Well, are we going to just eat all of them now, or are we going to put some away for later or something?"

The warlock paused mid-bite. What _could _they do with these? There was at least three small bushes of them, enough to feed a large group of people. Then an idea struck Merlin. "What if we gave some to the slaves? The majority of them haven't seen a blueberry in years and would be more than grateful for even one." He lowered his voice a bit. "Which would be great if we wanted to gain some alliances."

Sage smiled delightedly at him. "Perfect! Now you're thinking like an escapee!"

So Merlin and Sage took turns picking berries and sneaking in and out of camp to hand them out. The other slaves were all too happy to keep quiet about what they were doing. After all of them had been eaten Sage and Merlin returned to camp, claiming that Merlin had fallen into the river and that's why they had taken so long. The guards had eaten it right up and Isobel hadn't really cared all that much, waving them away so she could get back to her conversation with Cavell.

The two slaves thought that they had their masters fooled pretty good, at least until Merlin went to go fill up some water canteens in the river and was cornered by an angry looking Jonah.

The lord's son seemed to step out of the shadows as he came out from nowhere and dragged Merlin behind a thicket of trees. Jonah kept a firm grasp on the material of Merlin's shirt, hoisting him from the ground with one hand. "I know my parents are clueless when it comes to the slaves but me? Not so much," he said with an evil, somewhat feral smile.

Merlin cringed back from the teen. "I don't know what you mean," said the slave boy, trying to feign innocence.

"Of _course _you don't," Jonah laughed, his dark grey eyes flashing dangerously. "I saw you and that little slave whelp in the river, and with the blueberries as well. Trying to 'gain some allies', hm? I wonder how my dear mother and father would feel about that?"

Merlin ignored the ploy about Sage and continued staring him down. He said, "What do you want, Jonah?" he asked, keeping his blue gaze away from the noble's cold one.

Jonah laughed sadistically. "You, to be my personal manservant for the rest of the stay in the kingdom."

The warlock cringed inside. Never in a million years would he serve such filth. The only reason he had ever served any of the other stuck up nobles that had ever visited Camelot was because Arthur had ordered it. But Arthur wasn't here right now to order him around anymore.

"Go. To. Hell," he rasped.

He expected Jonah to get angry. What he didn't expect was for him to start laughing like he'd said some marvelous joke. "Oh this is just _perfect," _he chortled, letting go of Merlin so he could grasp at his ribs. "I knew you would be perfect, just the kind of person I needed. That's why I chose you after all."

Merlin blinked.

Jonah erupted in a wave of fresh laughter at the expression on Merlin's face. "Oh, this is too good!" he roared. "You didn't honestly think my mother chose you based on good behavior, did you? I'm the one who got her to change her mind, the only reason you aren't still locked up in the fortress is because of me. I would be thanking me if I were you."

"I'd rather be there," he snarled, his lip curling in disgust. He hadn't put up with bullies when he was in Camelot, why should he stop now? "Anything to be away from an arrogant pig like you."

"I love this!" Jonah guffawed. He took a few steps back and threw his hands in the air. "Do you know what the best part is, slave? You have to serve me, you don't have a choice."

"And why wouldn't I have a choice?"

Jonah's smile disappeared and he turned back to Merlin, a dark smirk on his face. "Because, if you don't I'll tell mother what you said about gaining allies for a breakout. She surely wouldn't take well to that idea, she'll probably even kill you and your little friend." He paused. "Then again, I could just kill her myself and save the trouble."

Merlin had never wanted to launch himself at someone so much, but he held himself in check for Sage's sake.

Jonah regarded him cooly, knowing that he had beat the warlock. "So if I say, pack up my horse, you say...?"

The slave boy clenched his fists but kept them at his sides. "Of course, _my lord," _he glared up at the taller man.

"There's hope for you yet, boy," he laughed and walked off.

Merlin took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself. He hated Jonah, but he didn't want Sage to get hurt. If Jonah wanted to use him as a punching bag in return for Sage's safety, then by all means punch away. Because if there was one thing that had not changed about Merlin in his time as a slave it was this: he would do anything to protect the people he cared for

**So that was basically just a filler chapter, well except for the whole 'Jonah/Merlin showdown. This won't be that last of him, I can assure you. ;)**

**Thanks to everyone for all of the reviews, you guys are still awesome. Thanks for the support too, I know that I'm a bit of an annoying rambler!**

**So I have a quick question: How are my chapter lengths? Its relatively easy to write these so I want to know if you guys would lkike the chapters a little longer. I won't be able to work it into this story (I'm almost done writing it) but you can maybe expect longer chapters in my later works.**

**Speaking of later works, please vote on the pollon my profile. It decides which story I write next so please check it out!**

**Wisegirl6**


	14. Camelot

**Hey Friends! I know that this update is a bit later than it should have been, but I have been beyond busy with ringette (the season's just started again), school, homework, and things that I actaully like doing. So, of course I was a bit delayed.**

**Speaking of delayed, guess who's finally back in Camelot? STEFAN! No sorry, its just Merlin. ;)**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 14 ~Camelot

The castle of Camelot was in a state of momentary panic. The nobles, lord Cavell and lady Isobel, could be there at any moment and preparations for their visit still weren't complete.

Maids rushed about the castle, doing last minute cleaning in the guest chambers. The cooks in the kitchens were putting the finishing touches on the food for the welcoming feast this evening. The knights hurried to line up to see the noble family into the kingdom.

The king and queen were already fully prepared, standing on the stone steps of the citadel awaiting the arrival of Cavell and Isobel.

Arthur, the king, was fidgeting nervously beside his wife. He really didn't know what to expect from the Mercian lord, his family had only ever visited once when Arthur had been very young. He didn't look back on that visit too fondly either. Arthur remembered Cavell's son Jonah, who was visiting as well, screaming his head off because his temporary servant wouldn't let him go hunting with their fathers. Hopefully he had grown up in the 15 years since Arthur had last seen him.

George shuffled anxiously behind the king. The last time the royals had had visitors over Arthur had immediately handed his manservant to the awaiting lord, telling him to make sure that the noble was comfortable. George had, of course, served the lord flawlessly and to the best of his abilities. The only problem was that since George wasn't lord Joseph's usual servant he had taken the liberty of having George wait on his every beck and call instead of using any of the other servants the nobles had brought with them. Poor George had been beyond exhausted by the end of their visit kept up most of the night doing chores for the lord, and he really wasn't looking forward to being sent to look after _another _pompous noble. Sadly, he didn't have much choice in the matter. The king's servant just prayed that the lord was sufficiently nicer than Joseph had been.

* * *

Merlin nearly fainted when the stone walls of Camelot came into view. His head was a mess of emotions, the warlock was surprised that he didn't just spontaneously combust right then and there. But under all of the relief and joy there was one feeling that overruled them all: dread.

The slave dreaded going into Camelot for what he might find there. What had happened in his absence? How was everyone faring? Did anyone even miss him? Arthur would have obviously gotten a new servant by now, but did he even care that it wasn't Merlin that was waiting on him now?

Probably not.

Sage grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Are you okay?" she whispered, concerned.  
Merlin opened his mouth to reply but at that moment Isobel stood up and looked down at the slaves with contempt. Her look was enough to silence the few of them that had been speaking in hushed tones to the people around them.

The sorceress stood tall and proud in front of the group of slaves. Her dark eyes glinted in the evening sunshine. "Okay, whelps, this is what will happen when we get to Camelot," she started rambling off a list of jobs and which people would be doing what. Luckily, Sage was recruited as Isobel's personal maidservant, so since he would be pretending to be Jonah's manservant there was more of an excuse to see her often without raising suspicion. A strange, dark look came over Isobel.

Merlin knew what it meant. The witch always made that face when she was about to enlist a new rule for her slaves. The warlock crossed his fingers behind his back, hopefully it wasn't anything that could seriously tamper with his and Sage's plans.

"None of you will tell anyone of our fortress or of the slavery. Neither will you tell anyone of being captured by slave traders or of your real names. While in Camelot I expect everyone to do as their told and talk to no one unless they speak to you first," she commanded, eyes going topaz with the glow of magic. "Am I understood?" Without waiting for a response Isobel turned on her heel and mounted her white mare.

Merlin felt a shudder run through him as the spell took affect. It felt as if someone was dumping a bucket of ice down his back. And his front. And over his head.

The feeling of vertigo passed as quickly as it had come, his blinding migraine settling down into a minor headache.

"God, I hate it when she does that," moaned Sage, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

The slaves around the two nodded their heads, cringing at the pain it brought.

* * *

The lord Cavell and his family filed into the courtyard, followed by a large group of somber looking servants and guards. Although the lord and lady looked fit and well taken care of, their servants were a different story, Arthur noticed.

The entire crowd of them looked what Arthur would have imagined the very embodiment of despair would look like; gazing around at Camelot's own servants and citizens with longing, like they would give anything to trade places with them. They were obviously malnourished and their clothes were faded and torn in places. Obviously Cavell didn't pay his servants enough money to sustain themselves, witch struck Arthur as weird. He had never thought of Cavell as a man who would mistreat the ones who worked for him.

There was one servant in particular that caught Arthur's eye, however, though he couldn't tell why. He seemed just like part of the crowd, wearing a black jacket over a green shirt and brown breeches.  
A large red cut spanned from the end of the servant's eye to one of his unusually large ears. Arthur wondered how he acquired it.

The mystery servant reached up and ran his hand through his hair, giving the king a glimpse of bright red fabric tied under his sleeve. Seeming to sense Arthur's stare the servant looked up at him, blue eyes shining from beneath the raven fringe that covered his eyes.

The gaze was so intense that Arthur found that he couldn't look away, something about it was so familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The staring contest broke as Arthur turned to greet lord Cavell who had just dismounted his horse.

"Ah, lord Cavell, it is very good to see you," he said as he reached forwards to grasp the noble's arm.

A corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "And I you." Cavell stepped back and gestured to his wife and son who were still on their horses. "My wife, Isobel, and my son, Jonah."

Jonah swung his leg over the saddle and slipped off with a flourish. "Arthur," he said, smiling coldly.

The king of Camelot mirrored the expression, slightly put off by Jonah's appearance. The young courtier wore entirely black, with a gleaming silver sword at his side.

The two families exchanged pleasantries and Arthur found his eyes wandering back to that weird servant that he swore he knew.

The servant was staring directly at him, gaze unwavering. Not once did he ever break eye contact, or turn to look at someone else.

Arthur knew that he should have been feeling ruffled, even cautious, about the intensity of which the Mercian servant was looking at him with, but he found himself feeling the exact opposite; relieved and, dare he even think it, comforted.

The young king snapped back to focus as Guinevere grabbed his wrist. "Our servants will be more than happy to escort you to your chambers, but in the meantime me and the king have some things to look over before the welcoming feast this evening."

"Of course," Cavell nodded, a small smile crossing his face.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the crowd of slaves, one of them looked at the royals with barely concealed awe. It was them, Arthur, Gwen, the knights, Gaius; everything was as he remembered it. Nothing had changed.  
The dread that he had felt earlier had already evaporated, replaced by an intense longing sensation. He missed being in Camelot so much that it hurt just to think about it.

"Merlin, are you okay?" whispered a small voice. Sage looked at him with concern, she obviously hadn't missed the staring contest that he'd just had with Arthur.

The warlock looked at her weirdly, wouldn't she react the same way if this was her home that she was returning to after two years? That's when it struck him, Sage had no clue that he used to live here in Camelot! He glanced around cautiously before leaning down to whisper into her ear. "This is where I lived before Cavell found me. I was a servant here in the castle and I was the physician's ward," Merlin murmured, trying to get the words out as quickly as possible.

He was expecting the pain before it came, but that didn't make it any better. The slave clutched his head and drew away from the very shocked Sage. Luckily, the pain wasn't as intense as it would be if he were telling this to someone that wasn't a slave. Apparently Isobel didn't care whether the slaves gossiped amongst themselves very much.

Sage's mouth dropped open. They had come to Camelot, where Merlin just happened to have lived for a good ten years before he was captured, and he hadn't thought to mention anything! She shook her head as the two started walking, following the slaves ahead of them. Boys would be boys, inconsiderate even after being in confinement for years. "So you tell me this _now?" _

Merlin looked at her apologetically. "I'll tell you more after we get settled," he said, glancing over her head at the retreating forms of Cavell, Isobel, Jonah and a Camelotian servant.

The slave girl frowned and set off down the hall after them, not bothering to wait for Merlin. "I'm still mad at you," Sage grumbled over her shoulder.

Merlin smiled. They had one weird friendship.

**Yaaaayyyy! FINALLY IN CAMELOT! I know a lot of you have been waiting for this, so I hope you liked the chapter! **

**Did anyone see the new Hobbit trailer? Gosh, my ears are in love with Benedict Cumberbatch :P**

**Okay, since I know a lot of you have been waiting for Arthur to recognize Merlin I'm going to pose a little contest! Everyone who wants to enter has to predict what they think will happen in the end. The person with the closest guess gets the chapter with Merlin nad Arthur as soon as I write it! (which will be in under a week). The rest of you will have to wait for a few chapters. So enter, let's get the story to 200 reviews!**

**Wisegirl6 **

**P.S. good luck!**


	15. No One Saw

**I feel like a horrible person. Truly discusting! First I don't update for an entire week, then I skimp out of the Arthur/Merlin reuniting scene and split it into two chapters. Ugh. Feel free to lock me in the stocks with Merlin, I deserve it. Anyways I have found a winner of the competition, though I won't say who because I don't want anyone asking them for the scene. Thanks to all who submitted!**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 15 ~No One Saw

Sage walked quietly into Camelot's great hall, Merlin trailing behind her. She grabbed a pitcher of wine from another servant and took her place at a respectful distance behind Isobel.

Merlin shuffled over next to her with a matching silver jug in his hands.

The slave girl gave him a half-hearted scowl and turned to look ahead. She had already berated him enough before the feast, telling him it would have been so much easier to come up with plans if she'd known that Merlin had lived in Camelot before. There was now the possibility that someone could recognize him and then the rest of the story of the slavers would certainly follow.

"George!" barked the king of Camelot, making Sage jump at least a foot in the air. The servant that Sage assumed to be George walked forwards calmly and refilled the king's chalice.

The slave girl was appalled, couldn't a king bother to show his servants even a _bit _of respect? Cavell treated his slaves with about that much kindness. Surely the king wasn't that cold-hearted? Sage snuck a glance to her left at Merlin.

He looked about as shocked as she was, maybe even a little sad.

"That was a bit harsh," she muttered under her breath, only intending it to be loud enough for her friend to hear. Apparently her voice was a bit too loud because one of Camelot's servants picked up on it as well.

A young handmaiden next to her looked over. "You can't blame king Arthur, he's had a bit of a history with servants," she said, throwing glances around the room to make sure no one but Sage could hear her.

The slave girl raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes? And what would that 'history' be?"

If the servant girl was aware of Merlin craning his neck to hear more she didn't show it. "Promise not to tell anyone?" she asked pleadingly. "I could lose my job for gossiping about this."

Sage rested her free hand on the girl's arm and swore that she wouldn't.

"Okay," she whispered unsurely, still not really believing her, but wanting to spill her dirt all the same. "Once, a couple of years ago, the king, though he was more of a prince back then, had a servant named Merlin."

Sage's breath caught in her throat. Merlin? Her friend the cheeky slave, Merlin? She shot a look at the warlock, judging his reaction.

Merlin shrugged, as if to say 'well, sorry'.

Sage could have kicked him she was so angry at him. When was he going to stop giving her half-truths and leaving out important details? She was getting sick and tired of it.

Merlin at least had the decency to look sheepish.

She turned her attention back to the handmaiden, cursing Merlin and all of his ancestors. Sage nodded at her to continue.

"The king trusted Merlin more than every one else, though he would never say it. They had been best friends, no doubt about it. Merlin went everywhere with the king, into battles, on quests and dangerous missions. No one thought much of it, after all Merlin did always came back," she paused, looking sad. "Then one time he didn't. I'd liked Merlin; he was nice, very funny too. I hadn't known him that well, though. I had been just a kitchen servant when he died."

_'When he died.' _The sentence played over and over again in Sage's mind. They thought Merlin was dead? But why, if the king was really all that close to to Merlin wouldn't he have sent out search parties when he disappeared instead of just giving up on him?

Merlin was thinking along the same lines. 'They think I'm dead?' he thought to himself. They couldn't, Merlin knew that Arthur wouldn't have given up searching for him unless he'd seen a body, and he was clearly alive and well so that wasn't likely. Maybe Arthur hadn't looked for him at all and just told everyone that he was dead so that they wouldn't ask.

"What happened?" asked Sage, pinching her friend's arm to jog him back to reality.

"I don't know for sure what went down, all I've ever heard is just hearsay," she muttered carefully. "Apparently they were on a patrol once and they ran into some slavers. Of course, the king and his knights had cut down the men that hadn't ran away as soon as they'd drawn their swords, but not before they had dragged poor Merlin off with them," she finished looking sad.

"So he's not dead?" asked Sage.

The handmaiden, Lily, if Merlin was correct, shook her head slightly. "No, he's dead alright."

Merlin could barely breathe. He wasn't dead, getting there but he wasn't just yet.

"I'm confused," Sage whispered. "If he was kidnapped by slave traders then he would have been sold to someone, right?"

Lily bit her lip and glanced to her left at the royals and nobles, making sure they weren't listening. "Well, he would have been, had the sick creep that kidnapped him hadn't killed him first. King Arthur had sent out a group of soldiers and knights, himself included, to track them down. He was desperate to find them and save Merlin, but they were too late."

Merlin held his breath.

"By the time the king caught up to them and slaughtered them it was too late to save his servant. The group's leader had cut him down days before because he had been too much work. The king was torn up about losing his friend, there hadn't even been a body to bury because of what those animals had done to him," Lily whispered sadly. "Ever since then Arthur's been cold to anyone who's ever served him." The handmaiden shot a glance towards the queen, who was awaiting her services. "Sorry, duty calls, " Lily gave a small smile before rushing away, leaving two awestruck slaves in her wake.

Sage turned to Merlin, shocked. "Are you okay.

Obviously he wasn't, she decided as she looked at him. Merlin was an awful shade of gray, and he looked completely miserable. "Everyone thinks I'm dead," he muttered looking at Arthur, who was completely oblivious of his former servant's presence in the room.

The slave girl wanted more than anything to comfort her friend, but she sensed that he needed to be left alone to take care of his thoughts. She whispered something to him quietly. "I'll talk to you later then, I guess." She took a few steps away, trying to put some distance between them.

Merlin was numb, it was a strange sensation. But then the mind-dulling shock gave way to something else: Happiness.

He had been worried that nobody had cared because he had spent two years rotting as a slave , but they did care. They had just thought he was dead, so saving wouldn't be necessary.

Merlin mentally berated himself for being glad that they thought he was dead. Here he was, feeling all happy because all of his friends and family thought he was dead while they were probably tearing themselves up about it. The warlock was revolted at himself

He glanced over at Arthur. The king was sitting stoically, making small talk with Jonah from across the table. Once and a while Arthur would look over at George almost sadly, like he wished someone else was there instead of him.

Merlin shook himself out of his thoughts. Arthur wouldn't still be sad about Merlin's death after almost three years; he was probably just upset that George wasn't refilling his wine as much as he wished.

A loud guffaw from the other end of the room made Merlin look over.

Leon, Percival, Elyan, and Gwaine were all joking around with each other over their food.

Merlin felt a smile slide onto his face looking at his friends. He'd never thought that he would see them again, but here he was. Back in Camelot. Home.

The knights of the round table were sent into another loud round of laughter as Percival cracked another joke, one that, unfortunately, Merlin was too far to hear properly.

Merlin couldn't help but notice that one of the knights didn't laugh as loud as he would have before when Merlin had been his friend.

Gwaine settled for a smile at the joke, though it looked rather forced. He propped his elbows on the table and took another swig of whatever he had in his cup.

Probably mead, Merlin thought with a quiet laugh. Gwaine really liked mead.

His smile faded as he caught the smile dropping off of Gwaine's own face as quickly as it had come once the knights looked away. The sight of someone usually so happy and full of life without a smile made Merlin cringe. He looked around the room once more, trying to catch another one of his friends with the same sad look.

He didn't have to look for long. He saw Arthur, Gaius, Gwen, and Gwaine all with the same sadness in their eyes when they turned away from the smiling guests and festivities. When they thought no one was looking.

But Merlin was looking and he saw each one of them. They made him want to tear his heart out and throw it in Isobel's face in anger. Because in reality it was Isobel's fault that they thought he was dead, she was the one who had forced him into the Blood Oath. She would pay, Merlin would make sure of it.

**I hope you liked that, it wasn't one of my personal favourite endings, but it'll do. Again, thanks to everyine who reviewed, I can't beleive I reached the big 200!**

**I just love you guys. **

**So congrats to the winner of the contest, I'll be sure to send it to you tomorrow. I would do it now, but its a really awkward time right now. **

**So thanks again and I'll probably be back in a few days with another chapter!**

**Wisegirl6**


	16. Coughing And Scratching

**I'm still not done the reunion! GAHHH, it is the hardest thing to write EVER! But I am working on it, so my winner will have it sent to them soon, so very soon. Did ya guys see the new cover image... I made it myself. It's my first time trying to make one so please don't be too harsh on me, but I do want to know what you think. So leave a comment! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 16 ~Coughing And Scratching

"George, I need you to do me a favor."

George inwardly cringed. Here it comes, he thought to himself, the king's going to hand me over to lord Cavell or his creepy son Jonah, regardless of the fact that they already had servants. He managed to keep his face stoic as his master looked up at him from the documents he was signing.

King Arthur leaned forwards on his desk so he was leaning on his elbows. "Do you remember what Jonah's servant looked like?" he asked stifly, as if the idea of asking George about anything other than serving pained him.

"Yes, sire. I believe I do," George answered, a little put off by the abrupt question. "He was the one with the dark hair."

Arthur nodded. "I need you to ask him his name. I want to know everything about him, where he lives, where he's been, who he might know in Camelot. If you can't get him to answer ask around Cavell's servants, at least one of them must know something about him."

George nodded stiffly. It really wasn't his business who Cavell's son's servant was, but if his King demanded it then he had to oblige. "Yes, sire. Right away, sire." He gave a small bow, turned and left, the King's gaze following him out

* * *

Sage scratched at her arm irritably. She had thought that her body had overcome the mystery illness, but one small, itchy red dot still remained on the side of her shoulder. Sage resisted the urge to scratch it again. Her arm twitched at her side. It was just so itchy! She made a quiet sound of discomfort, earning herself a scathing look from Isobel.

She was supposed to be serving her mistress as she ate with Camelot's royals, but it had become a sort of scratch and cough competition between Sage and Merlin.

Sage wasn't sure what was wrong with Merlin. He had been coughing and wheezing for the better part of an hour now. She had assumed that it was just a common cold, some sniffling and sneezing and then he would be back to the same old Merlin. But that hadn't happened; instead he had just gotten worse.

"-And then he had the nerve to tell me that I was cheating! How preposterous is that?" said Jonah, looking expectantly at the king, as if challenging him to disagree.

Arthur nodded. "I would never allow anyone to speak to me like that," he said, putting on a mask of false incredulity.

Merlin snorted, quickly disguising it as another cough.

Cavell looked at him over his dinner with his lip curled slightly in disgust. For some unknown reason he absolutely hated Merlin since the episode in the library, which really puzzled the warlock because what he had done really hadn't merited that kind of dislike.

He raised his gaze and caught Arthur's. Merlin wanted more than anything to just drop the silver jug he was holding and yell at him 'It's Merlin! I'm Merlin, you stupid, idiotic prat!' Sadly he knew how much pain would accompany the gesture.

But then again, other then pain what wrong could come from doing that? Not only would it expose himself, but it would get Isobel and Cavell the punishment they deserved. Merlin bit his lip in discontent as he found the flaw in his plan. There was always a flaw!

If he exposed the slaves that worked for the visiting nobles Isobel could lash out at Arthur or Gwen with her magic. He had seen her do it before with a man that had almost sold them a diseased slave. The sorceress had blasted him against the wall, hard enough to snap his neck and kill him. Sadly the man hadn't been Askandar. Merlin really would have preferred it to have been him.

So yelling insults at the King definitely wasn't the way to go about revealing himself.

He concentrated on Arthur's eyes; trying not to blink. If he could just get him to see him, to really _see him, _maybe he and the other slaves would have a chance.

Arthur looked back at Jonah without even a raised eyebrow at the wayward slave.

The warlock did his best not to pull his hair out in frustration. It just wasn't fair. The least fate could do after locking him in a cell for almost two years was make this easier for him. Merlin sighed. Self-pity wasn't going to get him anywhere, and hoping that Arthur would just magically realize that his dead manservant wasn't so dead after all wouldn't help either.

Sage gave him a weird look out of the corner of her eyes as he dropped into another fit of coughing.

Merlin barely noticed her over the wrenching coughs. His magic was getting stronger... and he was getting weaker.

It wasn't as if his current condition was helping much. His back still pained him to move because of the slashes and he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast of yesterday. As if agreeing with his argument Merlin's stomach gave a fierce growl.

"Are you hungry?" came a quiet voice from the table. It was Gwen.

Merlin just stood there for a second, barely believing that she was talking to him. He quickly re-oriented himself and shook his head. Something about getting pity from Gwen just didn't appeal to him, even if it did mean that he would get food.

The queen just looked at him kindly. "Nonsense, you look like you're wasting away!" She cast a quick glance around the table. Jonah and Isobel weren't paying attention Cavell was in discussion with Arthur about Camelot's next tournament. "Here take this," she said, sneakily taking a piece of bread from her plate and holding it out to him.

The slave's hand jerked towards it feebly before he drew it back to his side. He shook his head again, more insistently this time.

Gwen fixed him with a look; one that he knew all too well from his time in Camelot. "Take it. Trust me, you will feel much better once you've had it." When she received no response Gwen pushed it into his hand, closing his fingers around it.

"Your highness, I really don't thi-" His protests were interrupted by her warm, gentle smile.

"It's more than fine, trust me. I know what its like to be a servant, I was one myself before I married the king. What's your name?"

Merlin was afraid to answer. He knew that he wasn't allowed to give his real name, and the thought of anyone calling him anything else, especially someone like Gwen, terrified him. But the queen was waiting for an answer and he couldn't just ignore her. Or at least not after she'd been so nice to him. "M... Matthew," he whispered unsurely.

If Gwen heard his uneasiness she certainly didn't show it. "Well, Matthew, it's very nice to meet you." She drew away and joined in on the conversation between Cavell and her husband with a small smile to him over her shoulder.

Merlin stepped back a few feet, tucking the bread in his sleeve next to his red neckerchief. Strangely, he felt like crying for some inexplicable reason. Whether it was from the giant headache that his built up magic was bringing on or the fragile state of his emotions he didn't know.

**Okay, so it was basically just a filler. Nothing super important just happened. But it will be critical to the story because I really don't like filler chapters. **

**I'm too tired to write anymore so I'm going to leave it at Please Review! :D**

**Wisegirl6**

**P.S. Thanks Chonie (hope I spelt that right)**


	17. On The Training Field

**Hello again! I finished the reunion scene (huzzah to that) and since I got such nice reviews from everyone I decided to post again! This chapter is the longest one in the story so far (though I didn't mean to make it long) and is over 2300 words not including author's notes. Wow. Just wow. **

**Wisegirl6**

Chapter 17 ~On The Training Field

Later the next day Gwen told Arthur about her conversation with the servant.

"He was so nice, but he barely even said anything to me!" she said as she bustled about the room, straightening things that George hadn't gotten to yet. She pulled the curtains back absent-mindedly, letting the morning sun filter in.

Arthur nodded, only half paying attention. He was rather involved with the paperwork he was filling out; something about a shortage in Camelot's grain stores.

The queen picked up a pair of her husband's breeches from the floor and began folding them. "Oh, the poor thing! He looked like they were staring him! Don't they ever feed their servants in Mercia?" she asked, swinging her head round the bedpost so that Arthur could see her.

"Which servant are we talking about again?" he questioned irritably. It was hard to concentrate when Guinevere was talking so loudly.

"Jonah's servant."

Arthur immediately perked up, suddenly interested on the conversation.

"It was weird; he seemed almost afraid when he talked to me." Her voice took on a careful tone. "But not afraid of me, maybe of something else?" She said unsurely. _Or someone, _remained unsaid.

Arthur understood what she was hinting at. He cleared his throat uncertainly and shifted in his seat. He couldn't believe that Cavell was mistreating his servants, didn't _want _to believe it. Arthur didn't especially like Cavell or his family, but he was an ally of his father and that showed that he had to have at least _some _good qualities. Well, that and Arthur really wanted some of his lands for Camelot.

"Guinevere, we really shouldn't be speaking ill of our guests," he said robotically as he cocked an eyebrow at her. He hoped that she would get his hint about dropping the conversation; not because it was wrong but because he knew that whatever she said had a chance of being correct. If he turned away his guests and broke the agreements it could be viewed negatively by others, nobility as well as common folk.

But the queen wasn't ready to drop the subject, she was determined to see it through. "But, Arthur, they are starving their servants, its obvious by how thin they are. What if they're hurting them too?"

Arthur immediately tensed for some reason as the image of Jonah's servant popped into his head. Strangely, the thought sent shivers of discomfort up his spine. Why was the thought of someone hurting the servant he had never actually spoken to in his life feel so wrong?

The king opened his mouth to assure her that Cavell and his family were _absolutely not _abusing and mistreating their servants but closed it just as quickly when he saw the look on his wife's face.

She was silently pleading with him. Gwen always hated it when someone innocent was hurt, it just went against her nature. Back when she had been a servant she hadn't had the power to do anything. But now, as queen of Camelot, she had the right and power to do whatever she wished. "Please do something," she pleaded.

"Fine," sighed Arthur. "I'll talk to Jonah later today, alright?" he asked, standing.

Gwen nodded and smiled, melting into Arthur's hug.

"But I'm telling you, Guinevere, nothing is wrong. Cavell and Isobel are perfectly nice people and I haven't seen anything that could prove otherwise."

* * *

Merlin hated training. Or at least he used to. Back when he was still Arthur's servant and the prince had training to go to everyday Merlin hadn't cared so much for it. Especially not target practice.

But now, however, he didn't find it quite so terrible, painful yes but not terrible.

"Faster, boy!" growled Jonah, raising the crossbow. "Make an effort!

An arrow embedded itself in the target on Merlin's back with a dull _thunk. _Merlin gasped as the momentum of the bolt carried him forwards and onto the rough ground, twisting his ankle. Okay, so maybe training _was _pretty terrible.

The slave's lungs burned and he gave a large, gut-wrenching cough. Soon he was in a full-out coughing fit, writhing on the ground. The coughs subsided and Merlin felt himself feeling twice as tired as before. He was getting worse. He could barely do anything now without dissolving into painful coughing.

Merlin would have been more than content to just lie there for the rest of the day, but apparently Jonah wasn't having the same thoughts. "Get up, boy!" he called from the other side of the field.

The slave ignored his masters protests and instead clutched at his throbbing ankle. Nothing was broken, but there was a good chance that it had been sprained. "Ow," Merlin muttered; still not listening to Jonah.

Evidently that was the wrong thing to do. Merlin felt a hand grab his neck and hoist him roughly from the ground.

"_I said 'get up'. _When I tell you to get up I expect you to do as your told and _get up!" _snarled Jonah, holding him so that their faces were just inches apart.

Merlin resisted the urge to spit in the man's face and wriggled out of his grip. "Sorry, my lord," he said with with a tone that didn't sound very sorry at all.

Jonah glared at him coldly, black eyes flashing dangerously. "Mind your tone when speaking to me."

"I'll make sure I do next time." Blue eyes hardening as Merlin glared back defiantly.

"Jonah!" shouted a voice.

Both men looked up to see the king of Camelot striding confidently across the training field, George in tow a respectful distance behind him. Arthur was fully equiped for training, armor glinting in the afternoon sunlight.

Jonah's look of rage immediately fell off of his face, replaced by a fake smile. "Ah, Arthur," he said formally. "I was wondering when you would decide to take up my offer to train with me."

Jonah turned back to Merlin, shielding him from the king's sight. His expression had retreated once more into hatred that the slaves were so used to seeing. He reached out and grabbed Merlin's arm. "Keep quiet, boy. I won't tolerate any of your lip in front of the king." His lip curled upwards slightly in a devilish smirk. His grip was getting painful now; Merlin was sure that his arm would be bruised. "Remember, if I don't approve of your behavior your girlfriend's life might come to a bit of an early end."

Merlin pulled back from Jonah, scowling angrily. Not even letting the comment about Sage being his girlfriend phase him. Jonah really was a lot smarter than his parents. Cavell and Isobel might have all of the slaves under a Blood Oath, but Jonah was the only one to think of using blackmail to make them do what he wished outside of their fortress.

Merlin watched from afar as Jonah and Arthur exchanged pleasantries. Soon they were sword fighting, but Arthur obviously had the upper hand.

The warlock could barely conceal a smile. After all these years Arthur was still an impeccable in battle.

After a while both men began to tire. With one fluid movement Arthur had Jonah's sword halfway across the field. He doubled over, breathing hard. He rose to shake Jonah's hand. "Marvelous sword work. You're style has really changed since the last time we met," he laughed breathily.

Merlin stepped forward and retrieved Jonah's sword to give it back to him.

His master barely spared him a glance as he absent-mindedly grabbed his sword.

Merlin drew back with a gasp of pain, silencing both king and lord. Jonah had taken the sword much too quickly, slicing open his palm with the sharp blade. "Ow." Blood was streaming from the cut, already cascading down his arm and staining his shirt. He brought it close to his body and tried unsuccessfully to stem the flow.

"Are you alright?" Surprisingly it wasn't a voice Merlin expected. Arthur reached out and took hold of the servant's hand, studying him with thinly veiled worry.

Merlin tripped clumsily over his words, things to say running through his mind but nothing leaving his lips. "Y- yes thank you, um sire." The warlock cursed himself silently. First time he spoke to his best friend in years and it was barely distinguishable through his stutters.

Arthur inspected the injury, brow furrowing in concern. "You should probably get this checked over. I can send you to Gaius if you'd like?" he asked, looking at the servant kindly.

The warlock's heart sped up. Merlin opened his mouth to answer, thinking this was his chance to be recognized, but Jonah beat him to it.

"Its fine, Arthur. My servant's just a little clumsy, that's all. I can get one of the other servants to patch him up," he said tensely. Jonah's hands curled into fists. He couldn't let the slave be treated by a physician, he would see the lash marks on his back. That would be enough to make even the dullest of people suspicious. He cursed his sudden, stupid impulse to cause pain to the weak and helpless slave.

Merlin's eyes widened, every one of his instincts screaming at him to do something. He couldn't let Jonah take this opportunity away from him, he _needed _to see Gaius. Not only had Merlin missed his mentor desperately but he knew that Gaius was the only one who might have the knowledge to help him.

Jonah's glare could have been enough to curdle dairy.

Merlin knew it was a warning. Something along the lines of 'keep quiet or I'll break your pretty little friend's neck.' The slave boy glared.

Arthur's mind was reeling as he watched the silent exchange between the two. Guinevere had been right, there was something fishy going on with Jonah and his servant. The king blinked as what Jonah had just said finally sunk in. "Clumsy!" he exclaimed incredulously, glaring slightly at Cavell's son.

Jonah looked surprised and said ", Is there a problem, sire?"

"_That _was, in no way shape of form, this man's fault. _That _wasn't just a simple act of clumsiness, trust me I would know." Arthur's face screwed up for a second, as if the thought were physically paining him. "You have no right to deny him medical attention after you're the one to injure him!"

Cavell's son blinked, feeling like Arthur had dumped a bucket of water over his head. "Are you accusing me of deliberately hurting my manservant?" he questioned, feigning innocence and defensiveness.

The king of Camelot was struck speechless for a moment. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he grasped at the words that just wouldn't say themselves. Could he really accuse one of his guests of cruelty? He spared a split-second glance at Jonah's servant, who was still clutching his arm to his red soaked shirt. Arthur's jaw clenched at the sight of those clear blue eyes widened in pain. He still couldn't place where he had seen them before, but they were so familiar that it hurt. Arthur took a breath and rounded on Jonah. "Yes I am," he snarled. "And I am accusing you of a lot more than that as well."

Merlin stood a few feet away, mouth agape. Was this the chance he had been waiting for?

"That's ridiculous!" Jonah yelled stepping closer to the king. He turned to Merlin, eyes so sharp they could have cut diamonds. "Tell them, boy. I've never hurt a servant on purpose in my life!"

Merlin opened his mouth to deny the statement, Jonah was an evil liar, manipulator, traitor and... His protests died on his lips.

Jonah had that look about him again. That deranged, angry and cold warning stare he gave Merlin whenever he felt threatened. His black eyes spoke volumes to Merlin. He was threatening him. Maybe not out loud like he normally would, but he was threatening him all the same.

"I... He- My master is an honourable man, who would never engage in activities such as those," he spat the words like they were poison in his mouth.

Jonah looked smug, but Merlin caught a trace of anger in his eyes. "I told you," he said evenly. "I've never harmed a servant in my life. My manservant has made that point quite clear. Now if you will excuse me, it was a pleasure fighting you but my servant here needs to be bandaged up." Jonah turned away with a flourish and stalked across the field, sheathing his sword as he walked.

Merlin snuck one last hurried glance at his friend.

Arthur stood tensely, rigid like he was about to be attacked. His mouth was slightly agape; he obviously hadn't believed a word of what Jonah or Merlin had said.

The slave turned away and rushed to catch up with his master, who was already waiting for him by the gate. Merlin stepped forward, ready to enter the castle, when Jonah grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and all but dragged him into an alley.

"What did you say to him, boy? What did you tell him?" he snarled and pushed Merlin against the stone wall with his forearm.

"Nothing, I swear!" He could tell Jonah didn't believe him, and for the very first time Merlin was truly terrified by Jonah. But it wasn't because of the way his teeth were bared like a feral animal, or the way his mouth was curled with disgust. It was because of the raw, burning hatred he saw in his eyes.

**I have to say this is my new favourite chapter in the story. I just love it so much. So I know that the scene in this closely resembles that of KnightOwl's 'In Darkness', but I can honestly say I didn't mean to copy her pr steal any of her ideas. The character Jonah closely resembles one character (forgot his name) in her story but there are many key differences that I really don't want to spend time typing out. **

**Anyways I will be sending the reunion scene to the contest winner, who's name hall not be revealed so they can't spoil the story for everyone else, right after I post this so if you submitted a prediction keep a look out in your inbox for my PM.**

**Please review!**

**Wisegirl6**

**P.S. Follow my Instagram fan account TheFandomExpress, it would make us very happy!**


End file.
